Fraser-Pryce, Jackson strong in 100 at Jamaican Olympic trials

KINGSTON, Jamaica: Double Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Shericka Jackson got off to smooth starts in Thursday´s 100m heats at the Jamaican Olympic athletics trials.

Fraser-Pryce, crowned in Beijing in 2008 and in London in 2012, won her race in Kingston in 10.98sec (0.7 m/s). At 37, the eight-time Olympic medalist is aiming for a new title at the Paris Olympics, which begin on July 26, and is gaining momentum after only resuming competition in mid-June.

Jackson, 29, a double world runner-up in the distance, was similarly comfortable in her her heat, winning in 10.99 (0.9 m/s). The two sprinters were part of a resounding Jamaican hat-trick in Tokyo in 2021 behind Elaine Thompson-Herah, also crowned in Rio in 2016, who will not compete in the Paris Olympics after withdrawing from the trials on Wednesday due to injury.

Fraser-Pryce and Jackson meet on Friday for the semi-finals and the final, where they must take one of the first three places. Over 400m, the surprise world champion from Budapest, 22-year-old Antonio Watson, pulled up after about 120m and will not compete in the Olympics. In the men´s 100m, Kishane Thompson scorched to a personal best of 9.82sec. A year ago Thompson ran 9.91 seconds in the first round but did not show up for the semi-finals.