Derron Herah, the husband and coach of two-time Olympic double sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, was left disappointed with the extended delay ahead of Friday night’s women’s 100m final at the National Senior and Junior Championships but warned that the sprinting great is in much better shape than her third-place finish.

“Elaine is Elaine and anytime the switch comes on, nothing can stop her,” Herah told the Jamaica Observer.

Thompson-Herah, who is still hunting her first World Championships gold medal, clocked 10.89 seconds to finish behind Shericka Jackson’s 10.77 and Kemba Nelson, 10.88, securing her spot on the 100m team for Eugene, which will also include defending world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who has a bye in the event.

However, a lengthy delay to the start of the final on Friday as a result of equipment issues has left a bitter taste in Herah’s mouth. He was, however, quick to point out that the 2015 World Championships 200m silver-medal winner is hitting all her targets in training and is primed to deliver in Eugene.

“I was honestly just anxious for her to come out of the race healthy after that late start. If an event is supposed to run at 8:40 pm, you do your warm-up according to that schedule and if you run 25 minutes after that expected time, anything is possible, so I’m just glad she’s not feeling anything out of the ordinary in terms of injuries or anything like that,” Herah said.

“Based on what she is doing in training, I am confident that this has nothing to do with where she is basically. So I’m just kind of upset about what happened before the race at our National Championships but at the same time, I am grateful that she came across the line healthy,” he added.

“She’s in super shape based on what she has been doing in training, so it’s a bit disappointing. I don’t want to dwell on that but that is something that needs to be addressed. They can’t come to a National Championship and end up waiting to run for over 25 minutes. That’s almost the time it takes to cool down, flush out, and head home, the body doesn’t work like that. So kudos to the winner, but at the same time, I can say that at the World Championships, it will be a different type of ball game,” said Herah.

Thompson-Herah, who was scheduled to feature in the 200m preliminary round Saturday, also expressed disappointment with the setback and admitted that she considered walking away from the start before remembering that she needed to run for her place at the World Championships.

“Honestly, the aim was to qualify but it is not the result I wanted. One mind was telling me to pull out (withdraw) but I told myself that remember you need to qualify, I don’t have a bye, I have to run to qualify,” Thompson-Herah told reporters after the race.

“In the 200m I am not looking for any time, I think my mind is messed up right now so I am just going to take time to reset it tomorrow (Saturday) and just go there to qualify and unwind after the championships,” she added.

The women’s 200m final is scheduled for 7:05 pm tonight.

— Andre Lowe