Shericka Jackson showing steady progress
Published:Tuesday | June 29, 2021 | 12:11 AMHubert Lawrence/Gleaner Writer -
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When Shericka Jackson crossed the line in second place in the 200m at the National Senior Championships on Sunday, she completed a rarely accomplished hat trick. Her time of 21.82 seconds made her the 10th woman in track and field history to...
When Shericka Jackson crossed the line in second place in the 200m at the National Senior Championships on Sunday, she completed a rarely accomplished hat trick. Her time of 21.82 seconds made her the 10th woman in track and field history to register times under 11 seconds for the 100m, under 22s for the 200m, and under 50s for the 400m. Now, Jackson stands shoulder-to-shoulder with greats like Allyson Felix, Marie-José Pérec, and Irina Privalova.
In a joyous Sunday post on Facebook, the 2016 Olympic 400m bronze medallist celebrated her achievement. "Today, I ran another massive personal best of 21.82s while placing second in the 200m and created history by being the first Jamaican to run wind legal times of sub-11s, sub-22s and sub-50s in the 100m, 200m and 400m respectively," she wrote.
Now almost 27, Jackson is the third fastest Jamaica of all time in the 400m at 49.47s, the time she ran to place third at the 2019 World Athletics Championships.
She had shown signs of speed before. In 2018, she sprinted to the silver medal in the 200m at the Commonwealth Games behind Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo and notched a personal best of 22.05s later in that season.
In 2019, with injuries affecting her MVP Track Club teammate Elaine Thompson-Herah, she helped the Jamaican 4x100m relay team to win the gold medal at the World Championships.
This year, she ran 11.02s for the 100m in June. It appeared to outsiders that was speed work for the 400m, where she had won bronze medals at both the 2015 and 2019 World Championships. It was in fact the start of a change of events for the former Vere Technical High School star.
"I was excited when my coach and I decided to focus on the 100m/200m and not to contest the 400m," she said. "The hard work paid off and I am elated to be on my second Olympic team, this time for the 100m and 200m. I booked my spot by placing second in the 100m with a massive personal best of 10.77s, which is the 13th fastest time in history, and the sixth fastest by a Jamaican."
The 10.77s run was followed by a time of 10.82 in the final and those performances have Jackson looking ahead.
"The work has just begun and I am super excited about the rest of the season," she said.
Those who arrived ahead of her in sub-11/sub-22/sub-50 territory are 400m world record holder Marita Koch of East Germany, Miller-Uibo, Americans Felix, Gwen Torrence, and Valerie Brisco, Pérec of France, Privalova, and Koch's old East German teammate Bärbel Wöckel. All of this elite group won either Olympic titles or World Championship gold medals or both, with Russia's Privalova triumphant at the 2000 Olympics in the 400m hurdles.