Watch: Tori Bowie Wins 100-Meter Gold At World Championships With Perfect Lean At Finish
A perfectly-timed lean at the finish line by Tori Bowie sealed a gold medal for the United States in Sunday's 100 meter final at the IAAF World Championships in London. Bowie just narrowly edged out Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast by .01 seconds for a victory in 10.85 seconds.
Bowie, 26, tumbled after crossing the finish line and was in shock until someone informed her of the official results that she had won.
“I had no idea," Bowie said. "All I knew was I wanted to give it everything I’ve got. Am I really world champion?”
Bowie, 26, improved upon her bronze medal finish from 2015 to win her first individual gold at a world championships. It's been just three years since she decided to fully focus on the sprints and leave behind her success as a long jumper. At last summer's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Bowie won a gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay, a silver medal in the 100 meters and a bronze medal in the 200 meters. She is also slated to compete in the 200 meters and 4x100-meter relay later this week.
Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands, who won gold at the 2015 world championships and finished fifth in Rio, took third in 10.96.
Last year's Olympic champion, Elaine Thompson of Jamaica, finished fifth in 10.98. Thompson ran 10.84 in the semifinal and holds the fastest time of the year with a 10.71 from the Jamaican national championships. This marks the first time in which a Jamaican woman failed to medal at a world championship in 14 years.
Watch Bowie's victory below:
[youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EszwtDxhpUA]
Bowie's victory comes just one day after the fellow Americans Justin Gatlin and Christian Coleman went 1-2 in the men's 100 meters to upset Usain Bolt in his final individual race. This marks the first time since 2005 that both 100-meter world champions are from the United States.
