Jackson unbothered by winning time

May 20, 2024
Rushell Clayton
Rushell Clayton
Shericka Jackson
Shericka Jackson
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World Championships 200 metres defending champion Shericka Jackson is unperturbed about posting 22.82 seconds, which enabled her to win the fourth leg of the Wanda Diamond League in Rabat, Morocco yesterday.

Jackson, the defending Diamond League 200 metres champion, running out of lane six, failed to produce her usual dominant performance, as after an average start, she was kept on her toes for the entire race and just held on for the win, ahead of Cote d'Ivoire's Maboundou Kone, who clocked 22.96 seconds and Helene Parisot of France with a personal best of 23.02.

Jackson, the fastest woman alive and the second fastest ever over the distance with 21.41 seconds, ran nearly a second slower than her winning time of 21.98 last year, but she was pleased with the win.

"I think it was a pretty good race for the first 200 metres race of the season. About the time it is what it is. I tried to focus on my technique and execution," said Jackson in a post-race interview.

Meanwhile, Rushell Clayton, who won the Jamaica Athletics Invitational at the National Stadium last week, continued her winning form as she picked up Jamaica's second win of the meet, by taking the women's 400 metres hurdles in 53.98 seconds.

Clayton, the world leader in the event with 53.72 seconds in Kingston, started slowly but picked up early to dominate her rivals, despite a strong finish from countrywoman Shiann Salmon, who ended second in a season-best 54.27, as Janieve Russell the other Jamaican in the event, finished fifth in 55.74.

"I am happy as it was a pretty good race, but there are still some things to fix in the hurdling. This is my second race of the season and the second time I run under 54 seconds. I want to focus on the next race and see what needs to be fixed," said Clayton, who stated that while she thinks about the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, she wants to focus on her current situation.

Throwers Danniel Thomas-Dodd and Traves Smikle missed out on a top-three finish after ending fourth in their respective events. Thomas Dodd had a heave of 18.54 metres in the women's shot put, while Smikle threw 66.04 metres in the men's discus, which had Fredrick Dacres sixth with 65.05.

Sprinters Rohan Watson the defending men's 100 metres national champion and Yohan Blake, the former 100 metres World Championships winner, continued their struggle this season in the event.

Watson finished fifth in 10.26 seconds, while Blake struggled for eighth place in 10.41 seconds. Cameroon's Emmanuel Eseme won the event in a season-best 10.11, ahead of Canada's Andre De Grasse, who did 10.19.

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