Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith limped across the finish line at Stade de France on August 4th. After finishing 4th in the 100m and 200m events during Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, the 35-year-old didn’t give up despite the hamstring injury. It was a disappointing and painful end to the 16-year-long dream of Africa’s fastest woman to win an Olympic medal. Or so we thought.

The World Championships silver medalist had to bow out from the heats due to an injury. However, in a positive turn of events, the veteran sprinter seemed to have recovered enough to give her dream one more shot. Team Ivory Coast named Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith as part of the 4x100m roster that competed in Paris today, August 8th.

Ta Lou-Smith became the eighth-fastest woman of all time when she ran 10.72s. Yet, the fastest woman in Africa has no gold medals to show for it. Throughout her 16-year-long career, the 35-year-old has participated in two Olympics, coming up short of a podium spot on both occasions. In fact, she missed out on the Bronze in Rio by seven-thousandths of a second.

Yet, this time, Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith was confident that she would make it to the podium. She even got quite close to her PB, running 100m in 10.87s during the heats. Ta Lou-Smith remained hopeful about the 4x100m relay even after the injury. However, her indomitable will may not be enough for the West African nation to find a spot on the podium.

“Ivory Coast finished 4th in the first series with 42:64,” posted the page La Côte d’Ivoire Est Chic on X. They also clarified that the team would have to wait for heat 2 to conclude before knowing if they made it into the finals. Unfortunately, the Olympian from the Ivory Coast isn’t the only high-profile sprinter whose plans got derailed in Paris.

Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith wasn’t the only top contender to bow out

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the third-fastest woman, hoped winning 100m gold would be one last notch in the belt, capping off an incredible career. However, the Jamaican track and field legend left fans confused when she didn’t show up for the semi-finals. Jamaican Chef de Mission Ian Kelly later told Reuters that the 37-year-old couldn’t compete “due to an injury sustained during her final warm-up.”

Similarly, another Jamaican icon Shericka Jackson pulled out of the 100m sprint ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Jackson who had picked up a minor Achilles injury during the Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix, chose to focus on the 200m instead. However, she didn’t compete in the 200m sprint either. The 2x world champion didn’t disclose exactly what went wrong.

However, just like Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith sustained a hamstring injury, Jackson also dealt with issues in the same muscle. In the absence of Ta Lou-Smith, Fraser-Pryce, and Jackson, Julien Alfred stunned Sh’Carri Richardson. However, the sprinter from West Africa still has a glimmer of hope. Do you think she’ll be able to capitalize?