Women on fire

Fast legs: (From left) Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast, Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce clocked blistering times in their respective heats. — AP/AFP

TOKYO: The women’s 100m round-one heats exploded into life on day one of the track and field events, after the Ivorian Marie-Josee Ta Lou roared across the finish line with a blistering 10.78 seconds at a hot and spectator-less Olympic Stadium in Tokyo.

Cloud cover offered athletes some respite from the heat and the relative quietness of the stadium gave the feel of a church experience, but the sprinters were incredibly fast on their way to the semi-finals scheduled to take place today.