Jackson, Thompson Herah begin 100m campaigns at Velocity Fest
Published:Saturday | April 22, 2023 | 12:46 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
World 200 metres champion Shericka Jackson and double-double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson Herah will contest their first 100m races of the season, headlining a stacked field at Velocity Fest 13 today starting at 4:00 p.m. at the National Stadium.
The event will also include the likes of former World Under-20 champion Briana Williams and current World Under-20 champion Tina Clayton.
Jackson’s last race was at the Miramar Invitational on April 8 in Florida, where she finished third in the 400m in 51.64 seconds. This will be Jackson’s eighth race of the season, with four of them being in the 400m and three in the 60m in February. It is her third full year competing in the sprint double internationally. Jackson will be opening her 100m campaign earlier than last year when she won at the Jubilee Series in May.
Thompson Herah opened her 200m account at the Tom Jones Memorial Classic in Gainesville, Florida, last week, finishing second in 23.23. This will be the fifth race for Thompson Herah this season.
For the men, Racer’s Ackeem Blake headlines the field coming off his wind-assisted 9.93 second-place finish in Florida. Today’s field includes Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain, Julian Forte and Tyquendo Tracey.
In the women’s 400m, Commonwealth Games 400m hurdles champion Janieve Russell will be competing along with World Championships bronze medallist Sada Williams of Barbados. The men’s 400m features national record holder Rusheen McDonald as well as Demish Gaye and Anthony Cox.
Olympic 110m hurdles champion Hansle Parchment is on the entry list to make his season debut in the 200m. Parchment is coming off a tough season where injury forced him out of the 110m hurdles finals of both the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games. In the women’s 100m hurdles, Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper is poised to make her season debut in her discipline. Among the entrants are World Under-20 champion Kerrica Hill who is coming off her professional debut in the event last week at the Tom Jones Memorial clocking a wind-assisted 12.68 in her heat and 12.86 in the final to finish fifth. The field for the men’s 110m hurdles includes Michael O’Hara and Orlando Bennett.
Meanwhile, in the field, 2015 World Championship bronze medallist O’Danye Richards will contest the shot put as well as World Under-20 silver medallist Kobe Lawrence while in the women’s long jump 2019 Pan American Games bronze medallist Tissanna Hickling will compete in a field that includes ISSA-GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships Class One girls’ long jump winner Aaliyah Foster of Mount Alvernia High.