Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson withdrew from the 200-m race on Sunday and gained’t race for a person medal on the Paris Summer season Olympics. The 2-time reigning 200 m world champion’s withdrawal comes days after she pulled out of the 100 m to give attention to the 200 m.
A favourite to win the race, Jackson had assured the general public after her withdrawal from the 100 m—the occasion for which Jackson gained a bronze medal within the Tokyo 2020 Olympics—that she was nonetheless in “fine condition,” however was attempting to compete “at [her] greatest” for the 200 m. Jackson was working with hamstring well being points coming into the Olympics.
“It’s a mixture of quite a lot of stuff,” Jackson informed Olympics.com on Wednesday after she withdrew from the 100 m, “I simply [want] to compete at my greatest, as everyone is right here to win.”
It’s unclear if Jackson’s hamstring situation is the explanation behind her withdrawal from Sunday’s race.
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Jackson, 30, remains to be eligible to compete within the girls’s 4×100 relay on Thursday, as is different Jamaica observe star Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
TIME has reached out to Jackson for remark relating to her withdrawal from the 200-m race and if she intends on competing within the relay.
Fraser-Pryce, two-time Olympic 100 m gold medal winner, additionally withdrew from the person 100 m, simply moments earlier than the semi-final race on Saturday. Group USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson, who was favourite to win gold, ended the race with a silver medal, and St. Lucia’s Julien Alfred completed with gold—a historic win, marking her nation’s first ever medal.
“I’m nonetheless attempting to think about what simply occurred,” Alfred mentioned after the massive race in Stade de France. “It hasn’t sunk in but.”
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With Jackson out of the 200-m race, the ground has opened up for Alfred to doubtlessly garner one other medal for her nation, and for Group USA’s Gabby Thomas, who superior simply to the 200 m finals with a time of twenty-two.20.
Within the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Group Jamaica gained all 9 of their medals in observe occasions: 4 gold, one silver, and 4 bronze. With each Fraser-Pryce and Jackson’s withdrawals from the person races—on prime of gold medalist Elaine Thompson-Herah’s withdrawal from Paris in June—Group Jamaica, often dominant on the observe, has been dealt some heavy blows.
