Jackson focused on the process
“I won’t rule out a world record but I am not one of those athletes that will dwell on it wherever I go.”
Published:Tuesday | July 11, 2023 | 12:08 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
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On the heels of successfully defending the national 100- and 200-metre titles, world 200m champion Shericka Jackson’s focus is to continue the process of what has been another strong season while enjoying the ride. Jackson captured the 100m title...
On the heels of successfully defending the national 100- and 200-metre titles, world 200m champion Shericka Jackson’s focus is to continue the process of what has been another strong season while enjoying the ride.
Jackson captured the 100m title in a world-leading 10.65 seconds and the 200m in a season’s best time of 21.71 on Sunday night, which was for a few hours the fastest time in the world this year, to wrap a successful National Championships.
Currently the fastest woman alive over the 200m and with outside expectations that the world record of 21.34 by Florence Griffth Joyner is well within her reach, Jackson said while she is not ruling out the possibility, she is not making it the singular focus.
“For me personally, I have always said that once I am having fun, focused on my lane and focused on me and training is going well, anything is possible. I won’t rule out a world record but I am not one of those athletes that will dwell on it wherever I go. If it comes it comes. I just want to have some fun while I run,” Jackson said.
Her mantra of enjoying the moment comes from her experience at the Tokyo Olympics when she won her first individual 100m medal at the Games but didn’t enjoy it as much wanting to wait until the 200m. It was an event that would result in her not making it to the final.
One race at a time
“Back in 2021 I didn’t celebrate the 100m well and I wanted to wait until the 200m. I didn’t make it (in the 200m). For me, it is to focus on one race at a time and enjoy it while I am doing it,” Jackson said.
The main focus of the season was the 100m and after she won in a blistering world lead, she said she believed it was destined to happen in Kingston after mishaps off the track at the Diamond League meet in Oslo last month. It was a race where she would finish third.
“I knew I was capable of running super fast. I was supposed to have run that fast in Oslo but so many things happened. When I got there, I never had any clothes because I didn’t get my luggage until I got back to Jamaica,” Jackson said. “And I said to myself in that room when Puma flew all the way from another country just for me to be able to grace that track, I said it is not supposed to happen in Oslo but it is going to happen on Jamaican soil. So I think Friday I really wanted to get there. “
Jackson will have a quick turnaround as she is on the start list to compete in Sunday’s Diamond League meet in Poland.