Citing recent injury concerns and a strategic focus on the 200m, two-time World Athletics 200m champion Shericka Jackson has withdrawn from the 100m event at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Jackson, who has been chasing the 36-year-old world record in the 200m, emphasized the need to protect her body and concentrate on excelling in one event as the Games approach.
"It's a combination of things," Jackson explained 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's pursuit of the world record saw her come agonizingly close at the World Championships in Budapest in 2023, where she clocked 21.41 seconds, breaking her own championship record of 21.45 seconds set in Oregon the previous year. Her 21.41 is the second-fastest time ever run by a woman over 200m.
Despite her impressive form, Jackson has decided to focus solely on the 200m at Paris 2024. "That decision was based on coach and I," she told Olympics.com at a press meet-up on Tuesday in Paris. "It's a combination of a lot of stuff. And I made that decision not to contest the 100m and focus only on the 200, and I think we're pretty happy with that. I just [want] to compete at my best, as everybody is here to win.”
Jackson is also uncertain about her participation in the 4x100m relay, an event in which she helped Jamaica secure an Olympic title at Tokyo 2020. "The focus is on the individual event first and then we speak about the relay after," she stated.
In her last race on July 9 at the Gyulai István Memorial in Székesfehérvár, Hungary, Jackson pulled up on the home stretch of the 200m. Despite this setback, she assured fans that she is in good shape to challenge for her first individual Olympic title. "Honestly, I was only supposed to compete in that event, and as coach stated, we only run a few races in Europe, and I think that was the only race all of us were supposed to run… I'm in pretty good shape," said the five-time Olympic medallist.
Jackson's primary target remains the 200m title rather than the world record of 21.34 seconds set by Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988. "Given how I have been progressing this season, I don't think the world record is on my mind right now," she said.
Caribbean athletes share excitement, expectations ahead of track and field bow at Paris Games
As the world gears up for the track and field segment of the Paris Olympic Games, set to commence on Friday, athletes from various Caribbean islands are brimming with excitement and high expectations. These athletes, contesting a diverse range of events such as the 100m, 400m, 800m, and decathlon, are ready to execute with pride and passion, but more importantly, with hopes that the hard work done over the past four years will bear fruit on the global stage.
Having completed the final phase of their preparations at Complexe Sportif de l’ile des Vannes, ahead of competition, the athletes—Aliyah Abrams, Shakeem McKay, Shafiqua Maloney, Cejhae Green, and Lindon Victor—took time to share their eagerness with Sportsmax’s Alex Jordan.
Guyana’s Abrams, 27, who will contest the women’s 400m, is especially enthusiastic, as she seeks to create history by securing her country’s first ever track and field medal at the Olympic Games. The country’s lone medal to date was earned by boxer Michael Parris at the 1980 Olympic Games in Russia.
“It (the atmosphere) has been great, the weather has been good, and training has been great. This is my third day out and everything is coming together well, so I am excited. It is going great for me; I just want to really hammer throw the rounds and make sure I don’t leave anything off the track essentially. So I just intend on giving it my all and just doing my very best so I can make the final,” said Abrams, who will be making her third-consecutive Olympic Games appearance.
Another quartermiler, Shakeem McKay of Trinidad and Tobago, echoed similar sentiments as he hopes to make a memorable debut at the global multi-sport event. The 21-year-old, along with Jereem Richards, will carry the Twin Island Republic’s flag in the men’s 400m.
“It (being at the Olympic Games) is a dream come true,” he declared.
“I am just taking it day-by-day as it comes; I am not letting it get to my head or anything; I am just here to get the job done. Today (Thursday) was a fairly easy day; we had a couple sprints, accelerations, block starts and so on. So today was really just to prepare for tomorrow when we get on track,” McKay added.
The 100m dash, often regarded as the marquee event of track and field, will see several Caribbean sprinters vying for gold. Antigua and Barbuda’s Cejhae Green is among those that will line up in the men’s event.
Green, 28, is also making his third Olympic Games appearance.
“I am as ready as I can get. If you’re not ready by the time you get to the Olympic Village, then you’re in big trouble. I am feeling really good; actually, today was a really good day. Sometimes training doesn’t go as planned, but today was a good day…coach was happy, and once the coach is happy, I can’t complain,” Green shared.
Maloney, of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, is one of the Caribbean’s middle distance hopefuls in the women’s 800m. The 25-year-old, who holds her country’s indoor and outdoor national records, is now eager to make her mark, as opposed to her debut outing at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
“Honestly, in Tokyo, I was not in a good place mentally, I was lacking experience and just wasn’t aware of what it takes to compete at the top level. Now I have more experience, I have been running for a couple years now, I am now on the professional circuit; and I am a lot more prepared mentally and physically,” Maloney explained.
“I am out here chasing a medal like everybody else; just take it one round at a time and get to the final, but I can’t think about the final until I get past each round. So one round at a time, and when I get to the final, I can think about the medal. It doesn’t matter what you ran before you came here; it is about what you do here, so you have to show up and compete,” she noted.
Meanwhile, Grenada’s Victor, will contest the decathlon, a grueling two-day event that tests an athlete’s versatility and endurance across ten disciplines.
Conferred with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) earlier this year, Lindon, 31, is hoping to make his country proud on this his third Olympic Games appearance.
“I have to compete and be a good ambassador for my country first and foremost. Once I compete hard, compete well, and do what I need to, I think Grenada will be proud, and a medal would be a cherry on top of that,” Victor stated.
With the stage set and the athletes ready, the world will be watching as these talented individuals strive for Olympic glory.
'I am looking forward to stopping now', says Murray after bidding farewell to tennis
"I am looking forward to stopping now", were the words of Andy Murray after his glittering tennis career came to an end at the Paris Olympics.
Murray's final tournament ended in the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros as he and Dan Evans were beaten in straight sets by American duo Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz.
The 37-year-old left Court Suzanne-Lenglen to a standing ovation as the curtain came down on a career that included three Grand Slam titles, as well as singles gold at both the London and Rio Games.
"I feel good. I have been ready for this moment for the last few months since I had the operation on my back," said Murray.
"I knew it was the right time and I feel lucky to come and compete here.
"I am grateful to Dan (Evans) for putting in the effort he did to give us a good chance of having a great run. I am looking forward to stopping now."
While Murray and Evans had pulled off miraculous comebacks against Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel and Belgium's Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen in the previous rounds, both Paul and Fritz proved to be a step too far.
The British pair were second best for much of the contest, despite showing signs of yet another comeback in the second set only for Fritz's strong service game to cinch victory for the Americans.
"I mean it was a great run and we lost to two top players today. They are both top tennis players, we would have had to play very well to win that match and we didn’t.
"We got into it at the end, but if we found that form earlier we could have caused them problems, but it wasn't to be.
"We did make the quarters, but if you get through that match you get an opportunity to win a medal."
Murray bows out having won 739 of his 1001 ATP Tour level matches, earning 46 singles titles across his career as well as spending 41 weeks as world number one.
But in true Murray fashion, he posted to X joking he never liked the sport he played for 18 years shortly after the defeat.
Vekic sets up Olympics final with Zheng after comfortable semi-final win
Donna Vekic will play Qinwen Zheng in the gold medal match at the Paris Olympics after easing to a straight sets victory over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
The Croatian dominated proceedings from start to finish on Court Philippe Chatrier, comfortably triumphing 6-2 6-0 in just over an hour.
Vekic and Schmiedlova traded blows in the opening exchanges, but it would be the world number 21 who found the decisive break to go 3-2 up in the fifth game.
From then on, the Croatian was able to hold her serve to claim the first set, but the best was still to come.
Vekic would drop just five points in the entirety of the second set, storming to victory in a contest where she converted all four of her break points.
Data Debrief: Vekic one match away from creating history
Vekic will be the first Croatian player in tennis history to secure a gold or silver medal at the Olympics in singles when she faces Zheng on Saturday.
In a dominant display, Vekic won seven games in a row compared to Schmiedlova's one, winning 24 of her 32 first serve points.
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