Jackson weighing up distance options for next season
Published:Friday | August 20, 2021 | 7:14 PMRachid Parchment/Assistant Sports Editor -
Olympian Shericka Jackson says her options are wide open regarding which event she will choose for next season.
Jackson, a bronze medallist over 400m at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016, focused on the shorter sprints, the 100 and 200 meters ahead of the Tokyo Games this season.
She completed Jamaica's sweep of medals in the 100m event in Tokyo, when she took bronze in a personal best time of 10.76 seconds.
Speaking at a press conference in Eugene, Oregon on Friday, ahead of her 100m participation at the Prefontaine Classic, the Eugene leg of the Wanda Diamond League, Jackson said that no decision has been made on her future regarding which events she will take on, but it will come down to her coach, Paul Francis, at the MVP Track Club.
"The good thing about this is I can switch events any time," she told reporters gathered. "I can run all three events. It has to be a decision me and my coach will make. I still have a lot of love for the 400m, not that I stopped running it. I took a break and the break was really really good for me. So we'll have to decide that next season [for the World Championships, in Eugene]."
But Jackson says she has enjoyed all her accomplishments in her short time doing the 100m event.
"For me, it's a pleasure to compete with the sprinters," she said. "As a quarter-miler stepping down, a lot of persons may say 'Oh, you can't do it', but a lot of quarter-milers stepped down and showed that it is possible when you show up at the line, you give your best. My best was good enough and I got a medal and I'm just grateful."
Jackson will face-off against national teammates Elaine Thompson Herah, the Olympic champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the Olympic silver medallist, and Briana Williams, whom she won the gold in the 4x100m relay final with. Also headlining the race is the US' Sha'Carri Richardson, who is competing for the first time after serving a 30-day doping ban. It takes place on Saturday at 3:40 p.m. Jamaica time.