Shericka Jackson Withdraws from Olympic 200m Race

Posted on by

Day 7 - World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023

Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson will not compete in the 200-meter race on Sunday at the Paris Summer Olympics, meaning she will not be vying for an individual medal. The two-time reigning 200 m world champion’s withdrawal follows her decision to pull out of the 100 m to focus on the 200 m.

Jackson, a favorite to win the race, had assured the public after her withdrawal from the 100 m—the event for which she won a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics—that she was still in contention for the 200 m but was striving to compete “at [her] best.” Jackson has been dealing with hamstring health issues leading up to the Olympics.

“It’s a combination of a lot of stuff,” Jackson said on Wednesday after she withdrew from the 100 m, “I just [want] to compete at my best, as everybody is here to win.”

It remains unclear if Jackson’s hamstring issue is the reason behind her withdrawal from Sunday’s race.

Jackson, 30, is still eligible to compete in the women’s 4×100 relay on Thursday, as is fellow Jamaican track star Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

TIME has reached out to Jackson for comment regarding her withdrawal from the 200-m race and if she intends on competing in the relay.

Fraser-Pryce, two-time Olympic 100 m gold medal winner, also withdrew from the individual 100 m, just moments before the semi-final race on Saturday. Team USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson, who was favored to win gold, ended the race with a silver medal, and St. Lucia’s Julien Alfred finished with gold—a historic win, marking her as the first woman from St. Lucia to win gold at the Olympics.

“I’m still trying to think of what just happened,” Alfred said after the big race in Stade de France. “It hasn’t sunk in yet.”

With Jackson out of the 200-m race, the door has opened for Alfred to potentially garner another medal for her country, and for Richardson, who advanced easily to the 200 m finals with a time of 22.20.

In the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Team Jamaica won seven medals in track events: four gold, one silver, and four bronze. With both Fraser-Pryce and Jackson’s withdrawals from the individual races—on top of Elaine Thompson-Herah, the gold medalist in the 100 m—Team Jamaica, usually a dominant force on the track, has been dealt some heavy blows.