World 200m champion Shericka Jackson won the 100m at the Jamaican Championships in the world’s fastest time this year, while Elaine Thompson-Herah, who swept the 100m and 200m at the last two Olympics, placed fifth.
Jackson clocked 10.65 seconds, supplanting American Sha’Carri Richardson as world’s best in 2023. Richardson ran a personal-best 10.71 in the first round at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships on Thursday. She races the semifinals and potentially the final on Friday night.
Thompson-Herah was fifth in 11.06, which was eight hundredths out of third place. She is competing this week for the first time since April 14. She ran 11.24 in her lone previous 100m this year going into nationals.
Traditionally, the top three qualify for the world championships individual 100m, plus more for the 4x100m relay pool. Jamaican officials have not said whether Thompson-Herah could be placed on the world team in the individual 100m ahead of one of the top three finishers.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the 2008 and 2012 Olympic 100m champion, did not contest the 100m as she has a bye into August’s worlds in the 100m as defending champion, giving Jamaica four spots in the event.
Fraser-Pryce and Thompson-Herah are expected to contest the 200m later this weekend. Jackson has a bye into worlds in that event.
Also at Jamaican Championships, Yohan Blake, the joint-second-fastest man in history, was eliminated in the first round of the 100m on Thursday. He is set to miss a world championships 100m for the first time since 2015. The 33-year-old Blake’s last individual global medal came in 2012.
Omar McLeod, the 2016 Olympic 110m hurdles champion, did not enter nationals. He last raced April 29.
WORLD LEAD!! Shericka Jackson takes it! 10.65 #JAAATrials pic.twitter.com/8n5d6qDGed
— Lori-Ann Johnson (@LoriJ876) July 8, 2023