Russanette Dennis

Jackson, 27, has seen her popularity soar since she finished second to Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the 100m at Jamaica’s national championships in June and then finished third in a Jamaica 1-2-3 sweep of the 100m medals at the Tokyo Olympics in August.

She was also third in another sweep of the top three places in Eugene, Oregon on August 21, when she ran a personal best of 10.76 in the 100m won by compatriot Elaine Thompson-Herah in a world-leading 10.54. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the Olympic silver medalist ran 10.73 for second place.

On September 3, Jackson, apparently missing the comforts of home, having been away from the island for several weeks, tweeted that she was looking forward to arriving home and enjoying some of her favourite guilty pleasures specifically, two curry patties from Devon House, three grapefruit ice creams also from Devon House, chocolate, two cheese patties and two Purity Buns.

Alerted to the tweet, representatives from Purity, who currently does not sponsor Jackson, jumped at the opportunity and delivered several palates of product to the Olympic medalist when she arrived home earlier this week.

The gesture generated encouraging feedback on social media raising the prospect that Purity and Jackson formalizing a partnership. Responding to queries about that possibility, Russanette Dennis, the Marketing Officer at Purity, indicated that the company was in the early stages of negotiations with the athlete’s representatives.

“We’d love to have her as an ambassador but it’s too early to confirm anything ambassador-related right now,” she said.

Dennis said the Purity brand did benefit from Jackson’s tweet in early September that was retweeted more than 300 times and generated more than 3000 likes.

“Quite a few people sent us the tweet before we saw it. Many tagged us on all platforms that it was posted,” Dennis revealed.

“When we responded, though, our pages started to jump in followers. We got approximately 200 (Instagram) followers that night and about 50 on Twitter. Over the next couple of days, our IG page jumped about 200 more and have been gaining following organically since then, especially when he posted something related to Shericka.

“The organic engagement is through the roof for all platforms. People love her and it’s easy to see why. So naturally, they will love everything to do with her.”

There is no word on when the discussions will conclude or what would be a likely outcome.

Jackson, 27, an Olympic and World Championships 400m bronze medalist was one of Jamaica’s standout athletes at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, winning a bronze medal in a Jamaican sweep of the 100m and later anchored Jamaica to a gold medal and new national record in the 4x100m relay.

These achievements and her infectious personality have won her many new fans, among them Purity Bakery.

“Shericka is such a bright light and such a great fit for everything we stand for here at Purity Bakery,” said Marketing Officer Russanette Dennis at Purity.

“We’re so honoured to have her represent the brand and we’re happy that both our brands complement each other. The company would like to officially take this opportunity to express great pride in Shericka’s journey, her resilience, and her rise.”

Jackson and Purity struck up a relationship after she published a tweet while at the Olympic Games last year.

Apparently missing the comforts of home, Jackson tweeted that among the things she wanted to sink her teeth into once she returned home was a Purity bun. The tweet went viral and in response, Purity made Jackson’s wish come true less than 48 hours after she made her triumphant return from the Olympics. They gifted her with a massive package of Purity buns not just for her but also for members of her community.

Since then both parties remained in close contact and allowed Purity to see value in bringing Jackson on as an ambassador.

“We can’t wait to see where this partnership takes us and we are happy to carry Jamaica along to see the journey, too,” said Dennis. “Stay tuned to our Instagram @purityja for frequent updates.”

In addition to her Olympic exploits last year, Jackson ran personal bests of 10.76 and 21.82 in the 100m and 200m, respectively, to become the fifth-best combination-sprinter (10.76/ 21.82/ 49.47) in history. The times saw her shoot up the ranks from number 22 to number five all time.

Only Marita Koch, Florence Griffith-Joyner, Marion Jones and her long-time rival Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas, rank higher than the Jamaican speedster, who ran a personal best of 7.04 in the final of the 60m dash at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in March.