For any sportsman in this world, the Olympic Games represent the Holy Grail, but also a cruel moment. And athletics is no exception to the rule. Four years of hard work for a race of a few seconds. One might naively think that they give everything during this period of time, but that would be to misunderstand Shericka Jackson.
The Tokyo Olympics have not been kind to the FFL. If French team sports have very clearly declared open war on our federation, we have been able to find comfort in athletics. Indeed, the 200m event has reserved its share of drama which we are so fond of.
On July 31, 2021, the women’s 100m final was the scene of unchallenged domination by the Jamaicans; a hat-trick consisting of Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and our heroine of the day, Shericka Jackson. The latter won the bronze medal in the queen event, her Olympic Games are therefore already successful. So when you have to put on the warm-up blue once more 48 hours later to compete in the 200m series, you might as well say that motivation and Shericka make up two.
Shericka Jackson’s Race Summary
Right from the start, the first strides don’t lie. If the five competitors give everything to get a place in the semi-finals, the Jamaican is in scrubbing mode. To believe that she manages her effort to perform a 10,000 meters. The passage of the turn is done without incident for Shericka, totally relaxed. A body language that predicts an epic end to the race. However, on the home stretch, Jackson wants to show that she is the queen of the distance. So she places a micro acceleration, just to show that she has kept it under her feet. But not too much either.
Then on the last 10 meters, it is complete relaxation. Seeing that she is in second place, Shericka settles for the bare minimum to reach the semi-finals. Perfect time to pull the handbrake, and finish the race without suffering the slightest breathlessness. At the same time, what’s the point of getting tired for a banal Olympic race? Jackson crosses the line in 23’255. But lack of pot for her, the Portuguese Lorène Bazolo doubles her before. Then it’s the turn of the Italian Dalia Kaddari to have the bad idea to run the 200 meters to the end. The Transalpine caps it on the line and finishes in 23’251, ejecting Shericka by 4 small thousandths.
???? TERRIBLE MISTAKE ????
While she was regarding to finish in the Top 3 of her series, Sherika Jackson suddenly decelerated and stopped her effort!
Result, the Jamaican stops in the playoffs, eliminated on time#Tokyo2020 #Olympic Games #Athletics pic.twitter.com/5IrBKaSDTn
— Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) August 2, 2021
But it’s not all over for Shericka. Indeed, it can still be fished out in time. This time, it is for 1 hundredth of a second that the Jamaican is definitively eliminated because of Gloria Hooper, also Italian. Definitely. A result all the more infuriating that Shericka Jackson has since slammed the second best performance of all time at the last Worlds in Eugene. His time ? 21’45.
Even more frustrating for her when you know her potential.
