Jackson celebrates 200 metres win at worlds after Tokyo heartache
The Hindu
Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson is now a world champion after a mistake led to an early exit at the Tokyo Games
Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson can finally go watch the replay. The one of the race where she gave away her chance to be an Olympic champion.
She’s now a world champion, a more-than-satisfying reward after a year in which she trained with the goal of never making the same mistake again.
The 28-year-old executed the curve perfectly and ran the 200 meters in the second-fastest time ever, 21.45 seconds, to lead a Jamaican 1-2 finish on Thursday night at the world championships. She beat 100-meter champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce to the finish line by 0.36.
Jackson was among the medal favorites last year in Tokyo, but a miscalculation midway through her preliminary heat caused her to slow down. By the time she’d realized what happened, she could not catch up. She finished fourth and did not get to run in the final.
It ate at her so much that she refused to watch a replay of the race. Only learn from it.
“Sometimes, disappointment is hard to come back from,” Jackson said. “I don’t want to have that. I want to win whenever I’m competing.”
For support, she’s leaned on Fraser-Pryce, the 35-year-old who shows no signs of slowing down. That was the case in Tokyo, when Jackson was reduced to tears and Fraser-Pryce was there to comfort her. That was the case again Thursday when they shared a far more pleasant emotion — elation.