SAINT-DENIS, France — Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson withdrew from the women’s 200 meters on Sunday and will not compete for an individual medal at Paris game.
Jackson, the defending world champion who is the second-fastest woman of all time in the 200, had previously indented from 100 meters, says that was partly due to a leg injury she suffered in a tune-up race last month. It is unclear why she pulled out of Sunday’s race.
That makes American Gabby Thomas the clear favorite to win the 200. Thomas cruised through her qualifying heat in 22.20 seconds, as did Julien Alfred, who returned to the track and ran 22.41 some 13 hours after beat Sha’Carri Richardson in the 100 meters.
Jackson’s exit deals another blow to the Jamaican women, a perennial Olympic powerhouse who had won 15 of the 24 Olympic medals in the 100 and 200 between 2008 and 2021.
All three sprinters from Jamaica’s 100m sweep in Tokyo have been absent in Paris. Elaine Thompson-Herah, the 100m and 200m champion, shut down her season earlier this year with an Achilles tendon injury.
Just minutes before Saturday night’s 100 semifinal, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce withdrew with an unknown injuryand said on social media “it’s hard for me to find the words to express my disappointment.”
Jackson, who won last year’s world championships in 21.41 – just 0.07 off Florence Griffith Joyner’s 36-year-old world record – ran a pedestrian 22.29 at her country’s Olympic trials in June.
Then, in a race in Hungary on July 9, she pulled up before the finish of a 200-meter race, leaving her form in doubt with the Olympics less than a month away.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games