Marie Josee Ta Lou after her Continental Cup 100m victory (© Getty Images)
It’s been a long, hard season for Marie Josee Ta Lou, but the Ivorian sprinter was bouncing up and down with excitement after beating a stellar field to secure maximum points for Team Africa in the women’s 100m – and become the first woman from her continent to win this event since the competition was first held in 1977 under the name of the IAAF World Cup.
The exuberant world 100 and 200m silver medallist had a decent start and was soon into her running, establishing a lead by the halfway point.
But there were threats all around her in the form of the Briton who beat her into third place at the IAAF Diamond League final, double European champion Dina Asher-Smith, and Dafne Schippers, the double 200m world champion from The Netherlands.
Asher-Smith – joint leader with Ta Lou in this year’s world 100m lists on 10.85 - was pushing hard two lanes to Ta Lou’s right. But the Ivory Coast runner had the strength to hold off her challenge as she won in 11.14sec, with the Briton finishing second in 11.16.
Jenna Prandini of the United States, who set a season’s best of 10.96 last month, took third place in 11.21, one place ahead of Schippers, who secured Europe’s overall domination of the event in clocking 11.23.
Asher-Smith and Schippers combined to give the event victory to Team Europe.
Mike Rowbottom for the IAAF
