Jamaica's Shericka Jackson edges ever closer to Flo-Jo's record in 200
Shericka Jackson, center, of Jamaica, poses after winning the women's 200-meters final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Aug. 25, 2023. Credit: AP/Ashley Landis
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Jamaica's Shericka Jackson edged a bit closer to breaking a world record that has sat in the books for a generation.
While it didn't happen Friday, there's a sense it might happen soon.
Jackson defended her world title at 200 meters in 21.41 seconds, a scant .07 off the mark Florence Griffith-Joyner set at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
Until two years ago, no other woman had cracked 21.6, so when somebody asked Jackson if she was disappointed not to break Flo-Jo's mark, she scoffed.
“For me to run 21.41 and you ask me if I'm disappointed — definitely not,” Jackson said. “It's a personal best. So I am just grateful.”
The victory came four nights after Jackson finished second in the 100. That one was nice, she said, “but the 200 is my baby.”
Her 21.41 goes next to the 21.45 she ran to win worlds last year in Eugene, Oregon. She and Jamaican teammate Elaine Thompson-Herah are the only women other than Flo-Jo to run under 21.6, though American Gabby Thomas has a 21.6 on her resume.
Shericka Jackson, of Jamaica crosses the line to win the gold medal ahead of Gabrielle Thomas, of the United States in the Women's 200-meters final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Aug. 25, 2023. Credit: AP/David Phillip
Jackson beat Thomas by .4 seconds in this one, while Thompson-Herah, slowed by injuries this year, was not in the race.
“When I crossed the line and I saw the time, I was like, ‘I’m close, I'm close,'” Jackson said about the record.
In thinking about what she might run Friday night, Jackson said she had written two times in her book before the race. One was 21.41. The other one — a secret, but something that might be revealed someday.
“It's definitely faster than 21.4,” she said.
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