Jackson begins Diamond League charge
World 200m champion faces American Sha’Carri Richardson and Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith over 100m
Published:Friday | May 5, 2023 | 12:57 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
After a 100 metres season debut that showed that she is ready to challenge the world at the distance, 2022 World Championships 200m champion Shericka Jackson will have the first opportunity to gauge her progress with the best as she opens her Diamond League season today at the Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar.
Jackson will face a strong field that includes former World 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain and Americans Sha’Carri Richardson, Melissa Jefferson and Abby Steiner, set to take place at 12:12 p.m. Jamaica time. Jackson opened her 100m campaign two weeks ago at the Velocity Fest meet in Kingston, winning in 10.82 seconds setting the fastest time in the world this year. It was the first time that Jackson opened her season by clocking sub-11 seconds in the three years she has been competing professionally in the 100 and 200m.
While the performance being trotted as an indication of her being in the conversation to take the 100m title at this year’s World Championships, Jackson is not resting on the laurels of last season and is focused on improvement despite a performance which was seen as effortless.
“I think my technique has changed a bit and it shows. That is why it may have looked effortless,” Jackson said in an interview with The Gleaner on April 26. “I like to focus on what I am doing one step at a time. There are a lot of talented people running and you don’t know who will show up. So for me, it’s to focus on what I can do.”
Jackson finished second in last year’s Diamond League final in Zurich clocking 10.81 behind five-time world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and ran a lifetime best of 10.71 last August in the Diamond League meet in Monaco. While Asher-Smith is opening her 100m campaign in Doha, Richardson has run two 100m races so far this season, clocking wind-assisted times of 10.75 and 10.57 respectively in early April.
Meanwhile, Stephanie Ann McPherson will open her 400m campaign at the meet, after opening her season competing in the 100m and 200m locally. World Championships 4x400m relay silver medallist Candice McLeod will also line up in the event. McCleod opened her 400m campaign in Botswana on April 29 at the Bostwana Golden Grand Prix finishing third in 51.17 seconds. They will line up with World Championships bronze medallist Sada Williams of Barbados and Olympic and World Championships silver medallist Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic. Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper will also be in action in the women’s 100m hurdles facing off against Olympic champion and World Championships bronze medallist Jasmine Camacho Quinn of Puerto Rico.