Elaine Thompson-Herah Opens Up on Why She Will Not Run Any Championship in 2026

Jamaican sprint legend Elaine Thompson-Herah has opened up on why she made the painful decision to drop out of the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Thompson-Herah has been on the mend since a hamstring injury in July 2024 forced her out of the 2024 Paris Olympics and subsequent championships. She, however, returned to competitive action this year and featured for Team Jamaica at the 2026 World Relays in Botswana.

There has been hope that she will make her grand return at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow between July 23 and August 2 but she will not feature, revealing that a troublesome hamstring has forced her out of the event in Scotland and any other championship this year.

“I am feeling great,” Thompson-Herah revealed shortly after winning the women's 100m at the Boris Hanzekovic Memorial in Zagreb with a season's best time of 10.91 seconds.

“You know I had a minor setback going to the national trials so I had to swab coming out of my brain and saying; ‘Okay what can I do with some maintenance?’”

“I won’t do any championship this year even though that was the main goal, to go to the Commonwealth, but because of a minor setback…I am nursing a small minor hamstring injury. So I said just do one run at nationals in Jamaica which wasn’t the best.”

In Zagreb, the Jamaican sprint icon, who has been sidelined from European competition for two years due to an Achilles injury, delivered a commanding performance at the World Athletics Continental Tour event on Friday, June 26. Her time also set a new meeting record.

Thompson-Herah faced a strong field, with fellow Jamaican Brianna Lyston finishing a close second in 10.94, and Poland's Ewa Swoboda taking third with a time of 10.98. Both Lyston and Swoboda also achieved season-best times in the fast-paced final.

“But I am still pleased with the time today. I haven’t run so much in years. I am just still putting the pieces together so that main goal wiped off the chart so I am just focusing on other main goals which is to get some races and let’s close off the season,” added the five-time Olympics champion.