Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, two-time 200m world champion, has decided to withdraw from the 100m event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Instead, she will concentrate on her preferred 200m race. This decision follows an injury Jackson sustained during a tune-up race in Hungary just a few weeks ago.
Jackson, 30, who posted a season-best 10.84 seconds in the 100m at the Jamaican trials, explained her choice to run only one event at a media event at Puma House.
She said her recent injury and the need to protect her body as the main reasons for the decision. “I think this is just to protect my body. For the last three years, I’ve been competing in both events, and I think this [decision] is a combination of both, just focusing on one event and [what happened in Hungary].”
Her injury at the meet in Hungary was a significant factor in her decision. “I think it was a good decision [to withdraw from the 100m],” she said. “Coach and I made a decision, and it was in the best interests for both of us.”
“I’m always at peace,” she continued. “You have to do the best for your body and your mind and your soul. I’m okay with the decision.”
In addition to her world championship titles, Jackson has earned silver medals in the 200m at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships and a bronze medal in the 100m at the Tokyo Olympics.
Ludlow Watts, Jamaica’s track and field manager, confirmed Jackson’s withdrawal and announced that Sashalee Forbes would replace her in the 100m event. Forbes finished fourth in the 100m at the Jamaican trials with a time of 11.04 seconds. Olympic debutant Tia Clayton and two-time Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce are now Jamaica’s top contenders in the event.
Elaine Thompson-Herah, who won the 100m and 200m at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 202 Tokyo Olympics, will not defend her titles due to an Achilles injury that forced her out of the Jamaican trials.
American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, the current world champion with a leading time of 10.71 seconds this year, is the favorite for the 100m gold medal. The United States has not won the women’s 100m title since Gail Devers’ victory in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Marion Jones initially won the event in Sydney in 2000 but was later stripped of her medal for doping violations.
The preliminary rounds of the women’s 100m at the Paris Olympics will take place on the second day of athletics at the Stade de France, August 2, with the semi-finals and final scheduled for the following day, August 3.
