Elaine Thompson-Herah is having a change of heart as she is back dancing to the popular music of Jamaica after replicating her Olympic sprint double. Elaine snatched the Commonwealth 100m and 200m gold last week.
Videos of the Jamaican Olympic champion were posted on the TikTok page Elaine Thompson Hero of her dancing and listening to afrobeats, dancehall and dance music including a sun glow video one with Beyonce’s “Brown Skin Girl” playing in the background.
@elainethompsonherah
@elainethompsonherah Have a laugh…… re do for this one too #fypシ #dance#happiness
She made those comments speaking with Anthony Miller on the grounds in Trench Town, the home of Bob Marley, Miller asked the three time olympic champion “What’s on your playlist? What are you listening to? Who are your favorite DJs? I know you like to dance.”
She responded, ”I like to dance but I think its back then, I am a little mature, I am a more grown up now.”
“My most playlist is like gospel right now and I have a-lot of gospel that I listen to but I don’t listen to dancehall,” She continued.
Her recent dance videos can hardly be described as gospel but the sprinter has much to celebrate as she recently signed a multi-million dollar deal with athletic lifestyle brand Puma.
World Music Views reported that Thompson Herah as the fasted woman alive made the switch from Nike to Puma earlier this week. Puma announced the signing of five-time Olympic gold medalist via a statement.
“(She) will further boost the company’s impressive roster of track and field athletes ahead of the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon,” Puma said.
Last year fastest man in the world and triple Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt had given some advice to the Jamaican women sprinters, Thompson Herah included, alluding to their aversion to use Jamaican culture as part of their on and off track personalities.
During an interview with the UK Times, Bolt said he was impressed with female sprinters such as Jamaicans Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Shericka Jackson who made their mark in the sport in a photo finish 1,2,3 in the 100m final at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“They’re really keeping the sport exciting. All we need is a personality — most of the ladies are really quiet and chill,” Bolt said. “What’s missing is the performance that I always put on that people really love.”
Many sports fans commented that the Jamaican women were slighted by the American media and especially Nike, in favor of spirited American sprint star and last place runner Sha’Carri Richardson.
Richardson was given a Beats by Dre and a Nike ad to mark her rerun to the sport after a suspension for marijuana use caused her to miss the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Since her emergence on the scene as a leading runner in the US, she has made the international news in one way or another. Although she is yet to receive international triumph in any major race, she got a shout-out on Drake’s latest album Certified Lover Boy.
“And I’m like Sha’Carri, smoke ’em on and off the track,” Drake quipped on No Friends in the Industry.
Bolt, who has said that Sha’Carri is good for the sport, was also the subject of many Dancehall and Rap songs in his heyday. It’s leverage he has since used to collaborate with artists like Vybz Kartel, Cham, and Christopher Martin and to launch his own lifestyle brand the A-Team, and his fledgling musical career.
The eight-time Olympic Gold champion, who has had a successful post-track career landing endorsements with several companies including a lifetime Puma deal, got a No. 1 Reggae album with music videos on iTunes. The album, titled Country Yutes, was released on September 3 with Bolt’s executive manager and business partner Nugent ‘NJ’ Walker.
