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World Champs: Shericka Jackson hunts 200m redemption

Loop News

July 20, 2022 6:41 PM ET

4 mins read

EUGENE, Oregon: Shericka Jackson says redemption is on her mind going into the women’s 200m final on Thursday, the seventh day of action at the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field.

Jackson, the Olympic 400m bronze medalist from Rio 2016, stepped down in distance since last year’s Tokyo Olympic Games and she has so far shown that this was not a mistake.

But after rounding off a 1-2-3 Jamaica sweep by taking bronze in the women’s 100m behind the illustrious duo of Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, disappointment struck in the 200m.

A miscalculation in the heats was costly. Jackson eased up at the finish line, consequently missing the semifinal by 0.004.

Don’t expect Jackson to make such a tactical mistake again.

“Last year was probably one of the most disappointing times of my career and I never want to make the same mistake again,” said Jackson following two rounds of the 200m.

The Jamaican champion clocked a very fast 21.67 in the first heat of the semifinals on Tuesday, the quickest time going into the final.

Jackson’s 21.67 is close to the championship record of 21.63, set by Dafne Schippers in 2015.

Fraser-Pryce, the five-time world 100m champion sporting lavender-coloured hair, posted a season’s best of 21.82, the second-fastest qualifying time.

Tamara Clark of the US had the third best time of 21.95 while Abby Steiner, running her 54th race of the year following a stellar collegiate season, ran 22.15 behind Fraser-Pryce to qualify for her first global final.

Defending champion Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain ran a season’s best of 21.96, while the third Jamaican, Elaine Thompson-Herah, the five-time Olympic champion, also ran a season’s best of 21.97, the sixth fastest time.

 “I just wanted to run the curve as hard as possible, I did that today and am feeling pretty good,” said Jackson who on Sunday took 100m silver medal in another Jamaican medal sweep.

She described her miscalculation in Tokyo as a “wake-up call for me”.

Jackson said, “I had one of the fastest 200m times last year and not to advance from the heats and it was a really, really heartbreaking moment for me.”

No Jamaican has won the 200m since Fraser-Pryce in 2013. Jackson is the big favourite to land gold and justifiably stake a claim to being the most talented, all-round sprinter of the Jamaican big three, having become the first Jamaican woman to run under 11 seconds for 100m, under 22 seconds for 200m, and under 50 seconds for 400m.

She is only the 10th athlete ever to achieve all three landmark times in the women’s sprints, and only the third since 2000, following in the hallowed spike marks of Olympic gold medallists Allyson Felix and Shaunae Miller-Uibo.

Jackson’s best over 400m came at the 2019 World Championships in Doha where 49.47 earned her bronze, and this year she slashed her 100m best to 10.73 in the 100m final on Sunday and her 200m best to 21.55 at the Jamaican trials in June.

The 21.55 is the third-fastest time in history behind only Thompson-Herah’s 21.53 at the Tokyo Olympics and world record-holder Florence Griffith Joyner’s 21.34 from 1988.

Jackson welcomes the one-day break before the 200m final. She is very confident about being fresh for the medal round.

“Over management team recovery system is very good and I can’t complain about that and after every round, the management team ensured that I recover properly,” she said.  “It’s been five hard days of competition. I now have a day to rest and reflect.”