CRUSHED BY HER FAILURE to factor in the Tokyo 200, Shericka Jackson came to Eugene intent on a redo. In last summer’s Olympics, she had failed to make it out of the 200 heats after scoring bronze in the 100.
The key to a different result, she felt, would be running the turn hard. “I went back to the drawing board and I worked really, really hard on that curve, every day, every single day, and I think it paid off tonight.”
The payoff? A blazing 21.45 meet record to win gold, a time second only to Flojo’s WR 21.34 from the ’88 Olympics.
Already the world leader in the event at 21.55, the 28-year-old Jamaican faced the toughest field ever assembled. An unprecedented 7 of 8 had broken 22. Yet all along Jackson, who won silver in the 100 in a PR 10.73, exuded confidence. She won her rounds in 22.33w and 21.67 (history’s No. 12 performance).
In the final, she lined up in lane 4. To her right, American Tamara Clark, who had appeared very dangerous after her near-PR 21.95 semi. Then ’13 world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, sporting hot pink hair in lane 6. In 7 was Niger’s Aminatou Seyni, the DSD athlete who PRed at 21.98 in the heats. In lane 8 stood Abby Steiner, who had run 21.77 to win at USATF.
To Jackson’s left, defending champion Dina Asher-Smith was in lane 3, Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah in 2, and Mujinga Kambundji, who had hit a Swiss Record 22.05 in the semis, in 1.
Long before the stadium announcers introduced the lineup, Hayward Field was filled with the din of the horns that the Jamaican fans brought. The noise became ear-splitting when the three islanders — who had swept the 100 on Sunday — were announced.
The horns fell silent as the sprinters settled into their blocks. The gun fired. As expected, SAFP got out best, though 4 others, including Jackson, had faster reaction times. Jackson wasn’t watching her training partner (“I focused on my own lane”) but herself hit the turn hard, steadily grinding down Fraser-Pryce’s lead.
By 100, she had pulled nearly even (11.04 to 11.03), with Asher-Smith in 3rd (11.08) and Steiner holding 4th (11.28). But as the lanes straightened out, Jackson’s strength showed itself. The former 400 runner (who still does her base training with Stephen Francis’s 400 group), lifted away from her rivals and tore through the second half in an astonishing 10.41 to claim her first individual gold.
Behind, Fraser-Pryce closed in 10.78 to take silver in 22.81, making it the first 1-2 since the U.S. did so in ’05. Asher-Smith held off Seyni for the bronze, 22.02 to 22.12. Steiner, perhaps fatigued after a 56-race season, could muster only 22.26 to finish 5th ahead of Clark (22.32) and Thompson-Herah (22.39).
Notably, only the top two bettered their times from the semis, where the conditions were hotter (87F/31C vs 77/25), less humid (37% vs 57%), and also sported more of a tailwind (for Jackson, 2.0 vs 0.6); could that mean that under better conditions, the champion might have brought a bigger challenge to Flojo’s record?
She said the 34-year-old mark wasn’t on her mind at all. “I just wanted to come out here and execute the best race possible. I wasn’t thinking of any time, but I knew that I would go faster than 21.55.”
She concluded, “I wanted to be among the best and I worked hard to be among the best and I’m just grateful for the journey.”
WOMEN’S 200 RESULTS
(FINAL)
(July 21; wind+0.6)
(temperature 77F/25C; humidity 57%)
1. Shericka Jackson (Jam) 21.45 NR (WL) (2, 2 W) (MR)
(11.04/10.41);
2. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jam) 21.81
(11.03/10.78);
3. Dina Asher-Smith (GB) 22.02
(11.08/10.94);
4. Aminatou Seyni (Nig) 22.12
(11.29/10.83);
5. Abby Steiner (US) 22.26
(11.28/10.98);
6. Tamara Clark (US) 22.32
(11.33/10.99);
7. Elaine Thompson-Herah (Jam) 22.39
(11.36/11.03);
8. Mujinga Kambundji (Swi) 22.55
(11.31/11.24).
(lanes: 1. Kambundji; 2. Thompson-Herah; 3. Asher-Smith; 4. Jackson; 5. Clark; 6. Fraser-Pryce; 7. Seyni; 8. Steiner)
(reaction times: 0.113 Kambundji, 0.125 Asher-Smith, 0.139 Thompson-Herah, 0.144 Jackson, 0.145 Fraser-Pryce, 0.195 Seyni, 0.197 Clark, 0.200 Steiner)
HEATS (July 18)
I(2.5)–1. Jackson 22.33w; 2. Gabriela Anahí Suárez (Ecu) 22.56w; 3. Dalia Kaddari (Ita) 22.75w; 4. Jessica-Bianca Wessolly (Ger) 22.87w; 5. Rosemary Chukwuma (Ngr) 22.93w; 6. Ofonime Odiong (Bhr) 22.98w; 7. Olga Safronova (Kaz) 23.50w.
II(-0.2)–1. Beatrice Masilingi (Nam) 22.27; 2. Thompson-Herah 22.41; 3. Ida Kathrine Karstoft (Den) 22.85; 4. Joella Lloyd (Ant) 22.99; 5. Sophia Junk (Ger) 23.27; 6. Lorène Dorcas Bazolo (Por) 23.41; 7. Anniina Kortetmaa (Fin) 23.51; 8. Lorraine Martins (Bra) 23.60.
III(1.1)–1. Seyni 21.98 NR; 2. Fraser-Pryce 22.26; 3. Vitoria Cristina Rosa (Bra) 22.84; 4. Beth Dobbin (GB) 23.04; 5. Imke Vervaet (Bel) 23.28; 6. Shanti Veronica Pereira (SGP) 23.53; 7. Elisabeth Slettum (Nor) 23.55.
IV(0.4)–1. Clark 22.27; 2. Asher-Smith 22.56; 3. Tynia Gaither (Bah) 22.61; 4. Gina Bass (Gam) 22.78; 5. Jessika Gbai (CIV) 22.89; 6. Ana Carolina Azevedo (Bra) 23.45; 7. Shirley Nekhubui (SA) 23.46.
V(0.9)–1. Steiner 22.26; 2. Kambundji 22.34; 3. Grace Nwokocha (Ngr) 22.61; 4. Lauren Gale (Can) 23.08; 5. Ella Connolly (Aus) 23.27; 6. Maboundou Koné (CI) 23.32; 7. Beyonce De Freitas (BVI) 23.81.
VI(1.9)–1. Favour Ofili (Ngr) 22.24; 2. Jenna Prandini (US) 22.38; 3. Jacinta Beecher (Aus) 23.22; 4. Olivia Fotopoulou (Cyp) 23.25; 5. Catherine Léger (Can) 23.35; 6. Georgia Hulls (NZ) 23.46; 7. Hanna Barakat (PLE) 26.33.
SEMIS (July 18)
I(2.0)–1. Jackson 21.67 (x, 12 W); 2. Seyni 22.04; 3. Kambundji 22.05 NR; 4. Prandini 22.08 (fastest non-q ever); 5. Gaither 22.41 PR; 6. Bass 22.71; 7. Chukwuma 22.72; 8. Beecher 23.14.
II(1.4)–1. Clark 21.95; 2. Asher-Smith 21.96; 3. Thompson-Herah 21.97; 4. Rosa 22.47 NR; 5. Nwokocha 22.49; 6. Gbai 22.84; 7. Odiong 23.31; 8. Masilingi 24.78.
III(-0.1)–1. Fraser-Pryce 21.82; 2. Steiner 22.15; 3. Ofili 22.30; 4. Suárez 22.74 NR; 5. Karstoft 22.84; 6. Kaddari 22.86; 7. Wessolly 23.33; 8. Lloyd 23.38.
