Jackson, who won silver in the 100m with a 10.73 personal best on Sunday, ran a spectacular championship record 21.45 for victory ahead of teammate Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (21.81) and Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith (22.02). Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah finished seventh in 22.39.
Jackson’s time also makes her the fastest woman alive over the distance and is a new national record.
In the men’s equivalent, the USA completed their second sprint sweep of the championships with Noah Lyles defending his title from Doha with a phenomenal world-leading and lifetime best of 19.31 to become the third fastest man in history over the distance.
Kenny Bednarek ran 19.77 for the silver medal while 18-year-old Erriyon Knighton took the bronze in 19.80. The Dominican Republic's Alexander Ogando and Trinidad & Tobago's Jereem Richards were fifth and sixth in 19.93 and 20.08, respectively.
In the Women’s 800m, Jamaica’s 1500m semi-finalist Adelle Tracey ran a personal best of 1:59.20 to finish third in heat one and advance to the semi-finals.
Joining Tracey in the semis will be her Jamaican teammate and 2019 World Championships finalist Natoya Goule, who won the sixth and final heat in 2:00.06.
In the field, the world leader and defending world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada needed only one throw to advance to the final of the men’s javelin, registering a mark of 89.91m. Trinidadian 2012 Olympic gold medallist Keshorn Walcott failed to advance, finishing 16th overall in qualifying with a throw of 78.87m.
Cuba’s Lazaro Martinez jumped 17.06m to advance to the final of the men’s triple jump.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics 100m bronze medallist sped to a world-leading 21.55s in still conditions to complete the sprint double and announce herself as a gold medal favourite for the World Championships in Oregon in three weeks’ time.
Jackson won the 100m in a season-best 10.77 on Friday night.
In her wake was the Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, who ran a season-best 22.05 and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce who finished third in 22.14.
Afterwards, Jackson said she and her coach will have a look at the tape as she made several mistakes in the race that yielded the third fastest time in history. Only Florence Griffiths-Joyner’s 21.34 and Thompson-Herah’s 21.53 national record are faster than Jackson’s new lifetime best.
There was an upset in the men’s race that brought the curtains down on the championships as Andrew Hudson outraced Yohan Blake to the line and won in 20.10 to Blake’s 20.31. Finishing third was Nigel Ellis in 20.41.
Earlier, Britany Anderson emerged victorious in a close 100m hurdles battle with 2021 champion Megan Tapper, the Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist.
The 21-year-old Anderson clocked 12.53 holding off Tapper who clocked a season-best 12.60 for second place. 2015 World Champion Danielle Williams was third in 12.66.
As expected, Hansle Parchment won the 110m hurdles in 13.12 over Rasheed Broadbell (13.20) and Orlando Bennett (13.28). Omar McLeod, the 2016 Olympic champion and 2017 World Champion, finished eighth in 13.54.
In addition to the renaming of the school, the church also had a billboard mounted congratulating the athletic icon for her accomplishments this past season.
Fraser-Pryce’s sponsor Nike presented a cheque for US$100,000 while GraceKennedy committed to JMD$500,0000 to a breakfast programme instituted by Fraser-Pryce as well as a lunch programme.
Digicel Foundation, meanwhile, is in discussion about in what way they will support the ECI.
Thursday’s ceremony was several years in the making, according to Raphael Walker, Elder at the Penwood Church of Christ and Chairman of the Early Childhood Institution. He explained that several years ago, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports, had declared that in recognition of her athletic exploits, a decision had been made to name an educational institution after the celebrated athlete.
“A few years ago, the Minister of Sport (Olivia) ‘Babsy’ Grange made an announcement. When that announcement was made they started looking for schools to would be named in her honour,” said Walker.
“Shelly indicated that she wanted to be one of the schools that she attended. She attended George Headley, so that renaming wasn’t there, Wolmer’s is named after John Wolmer, so it came down to the ECI that she attended.
“The church met and agreed from then.”
Following the decision, the Early Childhood Commission and Culture, Heart, Arts, Sport and Education (CHASE) Fund renovated the school. “The school was equipped with smart boards and smart equipment, the kitchen was renovated, the playground, the entire school was renovated but nothing had happened since,” the chairman disclosed.
“We got impatient. We said we are going to rename it the Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ECI and when they (the government) decide what they are going to do it will become the Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Infant School.”
Deacon Walker said the occasion was well received.
“The decision was made soon after she won the world title in Oregon. Generally, the church has always done something for her after every achievement. So, in addition to the renaming, there is a billboard that we have put up congratulating for all that she did this year,” he said.
It was well received, there were people from the church, the children of the basic school performed and a citation was given to Fraser-Pryce, who made a ‘powerful’ speech to the gathering.
“It was a very powerful speech that she made conferring her commitment to Waterhouse, the church, the school and a pledge to continue to give back and empower the children of Waterhouse and to make their lives much better.”
The club announced her arrival on Instagram on Monday.
The 22-year-old Nelson recently graduated from the University of Oregon after winning NCAA silver in the blue ribbon sprint at the 2022 NCAA Division I Championships in June. She followed up with a third-place finish at Jamaica’s National Championships and earned a spot in the 100m at the ongoing World Championships.
She was sixth in her semi-final in 11.25.
She goes to Elite Performance with a personal best of 7.05 in the 60m dash, the time she ran while winning the NCAA Indoor title in 2021; 10.88 in the 100m and 22.74 in the 200m.
She will join a growing cadre of elite athletes in the training group including World Championship bronze medallist Rushell Clayton and Julian Forte.
