Jamaica’s sprint queens face rising stars in Tokyo

The women’s event will feature a stronger line-up than the men, pitting as it does two of the all-time greats against each other

The leading contenders for the women's 100m at the Tokyo Olympics. From l-r: Dina Asher-Smith, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Sha’Carri Richardson.

For many years, the world’s fastest women have been forced to sprint in a shadow. First, there was the towering presence of Usain Bolt, his intergalactic ability and supersonic personality drawing the eyes of the public irresistibly towards the men’s 100m, at least until his retirement in 2017.

Then there was the shadow of the past, the computer-game times run by female athletes in the 1980s, an era when anabolic steroid use was rife and the willingness to detect it virtually non-existent.