KINGSTON: Jamaica’s twice 200 metres world champion Shericka Jackson will not contest the sprint double at the Paris Olympics after dropping the 100 from her programme in a move she said was to protect her body.

The 30-year-old Jackson, who pulled up with an injury in her final outing before the Games in Hun­gary on July 9, clocked her season’s best of 10.84 seconds to win the 100m at the Jamaican trials last month.

“It’s a combination of things,” Jackson said at a media event on Wednesday at Puma House. “I got hurt in Hungary and it’s a good decision to run one event. “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].”

Jackson also raced to silver medals at the 2022 and 2023 world championships and bronze in the shorter distance at the Tokyo Olympics.

Round one of the women’s 100m at the Paris Oly­m­pics is scheduled for Fri­day at the Stade de France.

The semi-finals and final are programmed for Saturday.

The opening round for the 200m is due on Sunday, with semi-finals a day later and the final on Tuesday. Jack­son’s team-mate Ela­ine Thom­pson-Herah won both the 100 and 200m at the Tokyo Olympics.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2024