Defending World and Diamond League 200-metre champion Shericka Jackson will commence her outdoor half-lap season this Sunday at the Diamond League event in Rabat, Marrakech.
Jackson is among 11 Jamaicans scheduled to compete in the fourth leg of the Wanda Diamond League series, aiming for a strong start in defending her title. She is also the reigning 100 metres Diamond League champion.
This meet will be Jackson’s second competition of the season. Two weeks ago, she made her season debut at a Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) All Comers meet at the National Stadium, winning the 100 metres in 11.03 seconds.
Stiff competition
In the 200-metre event, Jackson will face stiff competition from Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji, who has clocked 22.87 seconds, and Denmark’s Ida Karstoft, with a time of 22.60 seconds, both of whom have gone sub-23 seconds this season.
Rushell Clayton, who delivered a remarkable performance at last Saturday’s Jamaica Athletics Invitational (JAI) with a world-leading time of 53.72 seconds in the 400-metre hurdles, will lead three Jamaican athletes in the event on Sunday. She will be joined by Shian Salmon, who finished third at the JAI with a season’s best of 54.47 seconds, and Janieve Russell, who placed sixth with a time of 55.82 seconds. Ukraine’s Viktoriya Tkachuk, with a personal best of 53.76 seconds, will also open her season in Rabat.
Danniel Thomas-Dodd will represent Jamaica in the women’s shot put, where she has achieved a season’s best of 19.08 metres.
Forte has shown promise this season
In the men’s 100 metres, former world champion Yohan Blake, Julian Forte, and Rohan Watson will compete. Forte has shown promise this season with a 10.07-second performance at the JAAA All Comers meet and a season’s best of 10.02 seconds at the JAI. Blake, with a season’s best of 10.43 seconds, will look to improve on his recent performances, having finished eighth at the Miramar Invitational and ninth at the Xiamen Diamond League. Watson recorded a time of 10.29 seconds for sixth place in Shanghai and a season’s best of 10.27 seconds for fourth place in Xiamen.
Rusheen McDonald, the World Indoor 400-metre bronze medallist, will also compete on the track. Botswana’s Bayapo Ndori, who holds a season’s best of 44.10 seconds and is currently ranked second in the world for the 400 metres, will lead the field in this event.
In the discus throw, Jamaican athletes Fredrick Dacres and Traves Smikle will participate. Smikle has a season’s best of 67.83 metres, while Dacres has recorded a season’s best of 65.94 metres.
