Jamaican World 200m champion Shericka Jackson says she feels no pressure to replicate her exploits from her phenomenal 2022 season, insisting that once she is healthy, the times and performances will come naturally.

Jackson’s comments came after opening her 2023 outdoor season with a 53.11 effort to win the 400m ahead of GC Foster College’s Odeisha Nation (55.37) and Christine Cheka (55.78) at the Queen's/Grace Jackson meet at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.

“For me there’s no pressure. I believe my coach and I did a very good job last year and all we have to do now is stay focused, not on other people’s expectations but his and my expectations. Once I’m healthy, I will definitely go super-fast,” Jackson said.

Jackson is coming off a phenomenal 2022 season. At the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, she sped to a personal best of 21.45 to win gold in the 200m, becoming the fastest woman alive in the process.

In addition to her 200m crown, Jackson ran a personal best 10.73 to secure second in the 100m behind teammate Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce.

Prior to last season, Jackson said that one of her goals was to run 10.6 in the 100m, and, according to her, that has not changed.

“Last year I wanted to run 10.6 and I didn’t do that. To finish last year as the sixth-fastest ever and not run 10.6 is a great feeling. I think I have a lot more in the tank for the 100m so I just have to focus on execution and fast times will come,” she said.

Last season, Jackson also made waves on the indoor circuit, finishing sixth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in a personal best 7.04.

On February 4, she will compete in the event at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston.

“Last year the 60m helped me improve my start. I ran 7.04 and this year I’m hoping I can go faster,” she said.

The field will be a loaded one, including 400m hurdles World and Olympic Champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, World Indoor 60m silver medalist Mikiah Briscoe and World Championship 100m finalist Aleia Hobbs.

“It’s a good field competing so my focus is executing a good 60m,” Jackson said.

Texas A&M senior and Jamaican World Championship finalist Lamara Distin jumped 1.90m to win the high jump at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetville, Arkansas on Friday.

The reigning NCAA Champion won ahead of teammate Bara Sajdokova who recorded a new personal best clearance of 1.83m while Arkansas’ Sydney Billington cleared the same height for third.

Jamaican 400m hurdler Jaheel Hyde opened his 2023 season with a second-place finish in the 200m.

Hyde ran 21.40 to win section one of the Men’s open 200m ahead of Americans Grant Williams (21.86) and Ian Braxton (22.88). American 2019 100m World Champion Christian Coleman was the overall winner with a 20.64 effort to win section two ahead of fellow Americans Will London (21.45) and Khallifah Rosser (21.70).

The 25-year-old Hyde is looking to replicate an excellent 2022 season which saw him win 400m hurdles silver at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Hyde also got to the final of the event at the World Championships in Eugene, finishing sixth in a personal best 48.03.

Elsewhere, Jamaican Arkansas senior Carey McLeod jumped 8.09m for second in the long jump behind Florida State junior Jeremiah Davis’s personal best and meet record 8.21m. LSU senior Brandon Hicklin was third with 7.97m.

Former Hydel standout Ashanti Moore opened her 2023 Indoor season with a second-placed finish in the 60m at the Houston Invitational in Texas on Friday.

Adidas’ Moore ran 7.37 to finish behind American Olympic 200m bronze medallist Gabby Thomas who ran 7.30. Sam Houston’s Rajer Gurode was third in 7.38. Moore had the fastest time going into the final after running 7.34 in the prelims earlier.

Elsewhere, B.B Coke alum and current Louisiana representative Javed Jones ran 48.12 to comfortably win the 400m ahead of teammate Nathan Ferguson (48.84) and Houston’s Joshua White 48.95.

Danielle Thomas-Dodd took third place in the Women’s Shot Put at the opening meet of the 2023 World Indoor Tour in Karlsruhe, Germany on Friday. Dina Asher-Smith impressed at the meet with a new personal best and British record in the 60m dash.

The 29-year-old Jamaican, who opened her season with a 19.12m throw in Iowa City last week Friday, took the lead in the fourth round with a throw of 18.77m. However, that lead was short-lived as reigning World Indoor Champion Auriol Dongmo of Portugal produced a 18.90 to take the lead.

Canada’s Sarah Mitton then put 18.88m to relegate Dodd to third, a position she was unable to improve upon on her final two throws with marks of 18.67m and 18.37m.

Asher-Smith, meanwhile, won her 60m heat in a new personal best of 7.07s improving on her previous best of 7.08 set seven years ago. She would go even faster in the final clocking 7.04 to establish a new meet record, British record and lifetime best.

Poland’s Ewa Swoboda took the runner-up spot in a season best 7.09 while World Indoor Champion Mujinga Kambundji ran 7.11 for third place.

The man at the centre of a JMD$3 billion fraud investigation involving investment firm Stocks and Securities Limited, eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt on Friday declared his loyalty to Jamaica and that he is not broke despite the potential loss of an estimated US$12 million or about JMD$2 billion.

Ukraine has threatened to boycott the 2024 Paris Olympics if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decides to include Russian and Belarusian athletes.

The two nations are currently banned following the IOC calling on federations to exclude them after the former's invasion of Ukraine last year.

The IOC confirmed on Wednesday its intention to uphold sanctions against state and government officials ahead of next year's games, but added it would explore opportunities for athletes from both nations to compete in France under a neutral flag.

The move has been met with criticism, coming just weeks after Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky called for athletes to remain barred.

The country's sports minister took to social media on Thursday to reiterate Ukraine's official stance on the matter.

"Our position is unchanged," said Vadym Guttsait.

"As long as there is a war in Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian athletes should not be in international competitions... If we are not heard, I do not rule out the possibility that we will boycott and refuse participation in the Olympics."

Guttsait is also president of Ukraine's National Olympic Committee, and added that consultation has begun with national sports federations over a possible refusal to participate in Paris.

"I hope all the federations, athletes and the entire civilised world pay attention now and we won't have to resort to extremes," Guttsait added.

Shericka Jackson credits patience and trust as the main pillars behind her success in 2022 and believes she could potentially be even better in 2023.

Jackson, the 2022 World 200m champion and the second fastest woman of all time over the distance, had an outstanding year in which she won her first individual world title and was the NACAC 100m champion. She also won Jamaica’s 100 and 200m titles in 10.77 and 21.55, respectively.

Along the way she achieved a new personal best of 10.71 in the 100m. Only her compatriot and friend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce with seven times under 10.70s ran faster in 2022.

The 21.45 she ran to win the gold medal in Eugene, Oregon, was a new national record and championship record. Only Florence Griffith-Joyner of the USA (21.34) has run faster.

Her patience, she said, and trust in her coach, made all the difference last year after coming off injury in 2020 when stress fractures in her shins threatened to derail her promising career.

“For me, last year it was about being patient, trusting yourself and trusting your coach and I think I did just that and it actually paid off very well,” said Jackson, who was runner-up to Fraser-Pryce at the recent RJR Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards.

Both athletes shared the prize as top track and field athletes for 2022.

For the coming season, Jackson said she is excited about the coming season and once she remains healthy, she believes she could go even faster in 2023 as the lessons of last season should have a significant bearing on what comes next.

“Coach and I have been working really hard on the parts of the race that I needed to be fixed and I think we are getting there step by step, no rush,” said Jackson, who ran 10.73 for the 100m silver medal in Oregon last season.

“Last year, I think I was being very impatient in wanting to get the start right and putting a lot of pressure on myself. So this year, coach and I sat and we had a conversation. It’s just about being patient and I think I will get there eventually.”

The International Olympic Committee is considering whether to include Russian and Belarusian athletes under a neutral flag at Paris 2024.

The two nations are currently banned following the IOC calling on federations to exclude them amid the former's invasion of Ukraine last year.

On Wednesday, the IOC confirmed they intend to uphold sanctions against state and government officials ahead of next year's games.

But in a statement, they acknowledged they would explore opportunities for athletes from both nations to compete in France.

"No athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport," the organisation's executive board said.

"[They would be] neutral athletes and in no way represent their state or any other organisation in their country.

“No flag, anthem, colours or any other identifications whatsoever of these countries being displayed at any sports event or meeting, including the entire venue."

The move has been met with criticism however, and comes just weeks after Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky called for athletes to remain barred.

A joint statement from Athletes for Ukraine and athlete association Global Athlete argued any decision to relax sanctions would endorse the war in Ukraine.

"The return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competition, especially the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, will see the Russian state use athletes once more to bolster the war effort," they said.

"[This will] distract from the atrocities in Ukraine on one of the biggest multi-sport stages in the world."

Russian athletes competed under the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee at Tokyo 2020 after the nation was officially banned following multiple doping scandals.

Healthy again and armed with a new mindset, Demisha Roswell is intent on making her senior year count for Texas Tech in the NCAA this season.

The 25-year-old former Vere Technical athlete impressed on Friday, January 20, when she ran 7.98 over 60m to finish second to Masai Russell at the Red Raider Open in Lubbock, Texas.

Kentucky’s Russell won in a world-leading 7.75 but Roswell’s time made her the fastest Jamaican woman in the world this year after eclipsing the 8.00 run by Arkansas’ Ackera Nugent in Fayetteville, Arkansas on January 13.

It was a welcome return to form from injury for Roswell, who defeated Nugent to win the Big 12 Championships last May, running an outdoor personal best 12.44 for the 100m hurdles.

However, her celebrations were short-lived as an injury slowed her significantly for the remainder of the season. She was seventh at the NCAA Division I Championships in a pedestrian 12.94 and just missed out on a place on Jamaica’s team to the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, when she finished fourth at the Jamaican championships in 12.83.

Since then, the work she has put in to get healthy again has been  paying off but it wasn’t easy.

“The background work was somewhat tough for me because I was struggling with my injury plus my mentals, but it paying off little by little,” she said.

“It (rehab) went well even though I hate it but my coach and trainer were very tough on me to get me back where I’m supposed to be.

“The time didn’t surprise me at all, to be honest. I’m confident about this season so I’m hoping I keep healthy.”

Roswell also revealed that she is approaching the new season with a different mindset. She is more focused and committed to being successful this season as she intends to leave her mark in her final year in the NCAA.

“I want more this year and I want my name to be remembered,” she said.

Track and field superstars Shericka Jackson and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone are set for an exciting clash in the 60m at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix at the New Balance Track in Boston on February 4.

Jackson, who finished as runner-up in Jamaica’s National Sportswoman of the Year awards last week, had a magnificent 2022 season which saw her 21.45 to become the fastest woman alive in the 200m on her way to winning gold in the event at the World Championships in Eugene.

She also ran a new personal best of 10.71 to finish second in the 100m behind Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce. Jackson, 28, has a 60m personal best of 7.04 which she ran to finish sixth at the World Indoor Championships in Serbia last year.

The USA’s McLaughlin-Levrone, 23, is also coming off a spectacular year which was crowned with her being named as the World Athletics Female Athlete of the Year in December.

In July, she became the first woman in history to run a sub-51 second 400m hurdles when she ran a sensational 50.68 to win her maiden 400m world title. That was after she broke her own then-world record of 51.46, which she ran to win gold at the Tokyo Olympics, with a 51.41 effort at the US Championships in June. McLaughlin-Levrone has never run a 60m race.

World Championship 100m finalist Aleia Hobbs and World Indoor Championships 60m silver medallist Mikiah Briscoe will also be in the field in Boston. 

St Lucia’s sprint queen Julien Alfred set a new NCAA record on Saturday clocking a world-leading 7.02 to win the 60m dash at the Martin Luther King Invitational held at the Albuquerque Convention Centre at the University of New Mexico.

The University of Texas Senior ran a world-leading 7.05 in the preliminary round before storming to the new record and personal best in the final.

The final was barely a contest as Alfred, the 2022 NCAA 100m champion, was miles ahead of Texas teammate Rhasidat Adekele, who was runner up in 7.20 just edging out Maboundou Kone, who ran 7.21 for third.

Alfred now owns the three fastest times over 60m ran by any woman in NCAA history at 7.02, 7.04 and 7.05 seconds, respectively

Saturday’s victory was a continuation of her impressive start to the season.

She won her season-opener event in the 300m dash at the Commonwealth College Opener with a time of 37.36. She went on to win the 200m at the Cardinal Classic with a time of 23.10 and helped Texas run the 13-fastest 4x400 time in UT history with a time of 3:30.55.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Rasheed Broadbell were crowned as Jamaica’s National Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year, respectively, at the 2022 RJRGLEANER Sports Foundation National Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards on Friday at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel.

The 35-year-old Fraser-Pryce, now a five-time National Sportswoman of the year after wins in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2019 previously, produced an outstanding year in which she won her fifth 100m title at the World Athletics Championships in July, in Eugene, Oregon, leading a Jamaican sweep of the podium places with Jackson finishing second in a personal best 10.73 seconds and Elaine Thompson-Herah third in 10.81 seconds.

Fraser-Pryce was also the Diamond League 100m champion in 2022 and ran a world-leading 10.62 seconds among her record seven sub-10.70 100m races during the season.

Meanwhile, Broadbell enjoyed an excellent breakout season in which he ran 13.08 seconds to win 110m hurdles gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and enjoyed some strong Diamond League performances, including a personal best time of 12.99 seconds while defeating American World and Olympic champion Grant Holloway of the USA at the Lausanne Diamond League meet in August, before finishing second to Holloway at the finale in Zurich the following month.

World 200m champion Shericka Jackson and West Indies all-rounder Rovman Powell, who led the Jamaica Tallawahs to their third Caribbean Premier League T20 title and Jamaica Scorpions to their first Super 50 title in 10 years, were the respective runners-up.

Clemson sprinter Kiara Grant started her 2023 collegiate season in ominous form with a personal best and world leading 7.09 seconds to win the 60m at the Red Raider Open at the Sports Performance Centre in Lubbock, Texas on Friday.

The 22-year-old former Alpha standout’s time was also a new ACC record, shattering Tonya Carter’s record of 7.15 seconds, which had stood for 23 years. She is also now the joint eighth-fastest Jamaican in the event.

American Marybeth Sant-Price, the World Indoor bronze medalist from last year, was second in 7.18 with Sedrickia Wynn of Texas State taking third place with a time of 7.35.

Elsewhere, Jamaican Texas Tech sprint hurdler Demisha Roswell produced a time of 7.98 seconds to finish second in the 60m hurdles.

The 25-year-old Vere Technical alum, who lowered her 100m hurdles personal best to 12.44 last season, was beaten by Kentucky’s Masai Russell who ran a collegiate record 7.75 for victory.

LSU’s Leah Phillips was third in 8.14.

The Convent of Mercy Academy, Alpha High School, has expressed appreciation to Express Canteen Services for sponsorship of its sports programme.

Express’ sporting support for the traditional all-girls institution was formalized during a $250,000 cheque handing-over ceremony on Tuesday by the company’s CEO, Ryan Foster, to Principal Mrs Kali McMorris, in the presence of teachers, coaches and athletes from a wide cross-section of sports to include netball, swimming and track and field.

Noting the long-lasting benefits of sport, Mrs. McMorris reasoned about the invaluable nature of Express’ contribution.

She said: “I think most importantly, when we get funding like this it offers the opportunity for all sports, who have students who are really eager and come together, even without some of the formal trappings of a team, to participate. And I think participation in sports is a lifelong activity that we want to inculcate in all our students for health, for wellness and  of course, for any prospects that you can have academic advancement.

“The relationship with Express Canteen, that partnership that Mr. Foster has entered into with us, has already borne fruit and we are happy,” the Principal added. “We call ourselves the Alpha family. I think one of the things you do when you join a family is you pool together your resources and so to Express we’re happy that they’re a part of our family and we’re grateful to them to be contributing in this way for the fulfilment of our dreams and our girls’ dreams.”

The school’s history of involvement in team sports was also revisited, with Mrs. McMorris noting that they have been particularly strong in netball, and continue to do well in track and field, as a small team. She also shared a growing admiration for the girls, given their efforts during the past three years.

“These young ladies, our fifth formers in particular and this track team that we currently have is particularly dear to me because I think they’re resilient, independent and determined. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, despite all the challenges of training and financing when the school would’ve wanted not to continue with a programme for safety, for finances, these young ladies came together with their parents and their coaches and they demonstrated to the Principal that they could have a team,” said Mrs. McMorris. “And they train and they found ways to overcome all the financial challenges and as a result of it we were able to draw together as a community to make that team at least go to Champs.”

That show of commitment has not escaped Foster either.

“I have been very impressed, not only with the humility and dedication of the school’s administration, but how the girls have performed,” he said.

Foster, who is also the CEO/secretary general of the island’s apex sporting body, the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA), stated: “The Convent of Mercy Academy, Alpha, has long been a well-established educational institution that has contributed significantly to the Jamaican landscape. As their food partner, we also believe in providing students with a balanced education where students not only excel in the classroom but the field of play.

“Express Canteen is proud to make this donation towards the Alpha sports programme and hopes that this contribution will encourage the performance of the girls in their respective sporting discipline,” he added. “As CEO of the JOA and Express Canteen, sport is seen as vehicle whereby our students can self-actualize and we will be supporting our girls in their endeavors on the field of play. Express believes that it is not the size of your company, but it is how you can sacrifice to make the lives of others better. After all, we are only here for a short time."

Sprinter Amoi Kentish, who has been on the track team since first form all the way through to fifth, competes in the 100m hurdles, 100m, 200m and 4x100m.

Commenting on Express Canteen’s support, she said: “I can say on behalf of my team we are very grateful because since we’ve restarted our track season we’ve been to one track meet, three basically, and not most of our team members have track gear. So we wear our Alpha tops and tights, but we still try our best to get our girls out to compete, to support the school and to go out there and do our best.

“So this sponsorship will really do us well. If we could get more gear and more footwear (that’d be good). Some of our sneakers is old and the bottom is falling off, so this sponsorship will really do us good for that,” she explained.

Halyncia, another track athlete, who runs the 400m hurdles, also expressed gratitude.

“The members of this team are very grateful that we were chosen to be a part of this sponsorship and we will be using this money to build and to help each of the sports to get better, and get uniforms, and to enter each event at a track meet, a netball competition, or a swim meet,” Henry shared. “…It (sponsorship) will help a lot because a lot of us are improving; drastically, little by little, step by step, but we’re going to get there because we’re disciplined, we’re focused and we’re determined.”

Dominican Triple Jumper Thea Lafond has been named by Dominican newspaper The Chronicle as their 2022 Person of the Year.

“Thank you to The Chronicle for this honor and for listening to my story,” said Lafond-Gadson in a post in Instagram.

“2022 was a truly blessed year! Let’s make 2023 even better,” she added.

The 28-year-old Lafond enjoyed a career-best season in the triple jump in 2022.

In addition to a gold medal at the NACAC Championships in August, she took home silver at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham later that month and enjoyed a fifth-place finish at the World Championships in Eugene in July and a fourth-place finish at the World Indoor Championships in Beograd in March.

Lafond also won the triple jump at the Rabat Diamond League in June.