Female sprinters will delight in Tokyo – Simpson
Published:Thursday | July 8, 2021 | 12:08 AMHubert Lawrence/Gleaner Writer
Jamaicans are expecting a big performance from its fast crew of female sprinters at the upcoming Olympics, and 2008 100m silver medallist Sherone Simpson agrees. Simpson can see Jamaica winning two medals in the 100m and two more in the 200m when the Games commence in Tokyo, Japan, later this month.
“I think they are going to do very well,” Simpson projected for the Tokyo-bound trio of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson and reigning 100 and 200m champion Elaine Thompson-Herah. “I do see us getting at least two medals in both events,” the 2006 Commonwealth Games 200m winner said.
Reacting to Jackson’s migration from the 400m, where she is the 2016 Olympic bronze medallist, Simpson said, “Shericka is new; Shelly-Ann and Elaine, they are familiar with running both events. It would be the first time Shericka would be doing a sprint double at a championships. She has done 400m before, but now, more rounds because she now has two events, but she has the 400m strength with her speed. Her speed is there so I see her also, even if it’s a personal best, very competitive, especially in the 200m.”
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Jackson ran personal bests of 10.77 and 21.82 seconds to split Fraser-Pryce and Thompson-Herah at the recent National Senior Championships.
Simpson knows Britain’s 200m World champion Dina Asher-Smith, 2017 World double runner-up Marie-Josée Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast, new American 200m sensation Gabrielle Thomas and Bahamian superstar Shaunae Miller-Uibo, but she trusts the competitive instincts of the Jamaican trio.
“It’s going to be very competitive, but our ladies know how to compete at championships,” Simpson said with conviction.
She doesn’t think Jackson, a two-time World Championships bronze medallist at 400m, will be unsettled in her first venture into the 100m.
“They’re looking for the more seasoned 100m sprinters, so I think that it is a help for her,” Simpson said. “She has the advantage of going there to focus on herself, follow her coach’s instructions, and just to take each round at a time.”
Thomas charged up to second on the all-time 200m performance list with a big run of 21.61s at the US Trials last month. However, Thomas isn’t Simpson’s pick to win the Tokyo 200m.
“My favourite is Shaunae Miller-Uibo,” Simpson said. “She has been there. You know she has the 200m speed and she also runs the 100m, so seeing that she will only focus on the 200m, because it has been out that she is not going to do the 400m, I favour her.”
The Bahamian has run 10.98s for the 100m, 21.74s for the 200m, and 48.37s for the 400m, the event in which she won the Olympic gold medal in 2016. With that combination in mind, Simpson concluded, “Shaunae is going to be a very strong contender.”
Thomas, Miller-Uibo and Fraser-Pryce, the second-fastest woman in the world this year at 21.79 seconds, will meet over 200ms in Monaco tomorrow.