TOKYO — For years, the 100-meter dash was synonymous with one stupendously fast human: Usain Bolt, who won three straight Olympic titles before he retired in 2017. He has since occupied his time with dabbling in professional soccer, selling cars, traveling the world as a bon vivant and becoming a new father.
There was a time, not so long ago, when his void at the Tokyo Games was expected to be filled by a bunch of other stupendously fast humans — in the women’s 100 meters.
They seemed primed for the spotlight, for a bit of attention from the public that Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, one of the race’s top contenders, said was “long overdue.