Jamaica’s reigning World Championships sprint gold medalists Shelly-Ann-Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson will clash with young American star Sha’Carri Richardson over 100m at Friday’s Memorial van Damme event.
The Brussels Diamond League event will take place at the King Baudouin Stadium and is the last before the two-day Zurich Diamond League finals on September 7 and 8.
Fraser-Pryce, who won her fifth World Championships 100m gold medal in Eugene, Oregon in July, returns to the track after withdrawing from last week’s Lausanne meet due to a hamstring niggle.
She told the media during a presser on Wednesday that she has managed to include some sprint workouts leading up to the event and she expects to face the starter on Friday.
In her absence last week, the race was won by American Aleia Hobbs, who outlasted Shericka Jackson, who won the 200m at the World Championships nearly two months ago.
Jackson had “disturbed” the start of the said race and was given a warning, while Elaine Thompson-Herah was down to face the starter in that event but false-started and was disqualified.
The 2016 and 2021 Olympic Games sprint double gold medallist Thompson-Herah returned to action on Tuesday at the 2022 Spitzen Leichtathletik in Lucern, Switzerland but was beaten (11.30 seconds) on the line by Richardson (11.29 seconds), who hadn’t competed since the US Trials.
Friday’s event also includes Americans Hobbs and Tamara Clark, as well as Ivory Coast’s Marie Josee Ta Lou.
Two Jamaicans – Stephenie Ann McPherson and Candice McLeod will contest the women’s 400m headed by Barbadian Sada Williams, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
Ace Jamaican sprint hurdlers Britany Anderson and Megan Tapper will face the starter in the women’s 100m hurdles against Olympics gold medallist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico and Bahamian Devynne Charlton and American Kendra Harrison.
No Jamaican man will line up at the Brussel Diamond League on Friday, but Trinidadian Jereem Richards will challenge American rising star Erriyon Knighton over 200m.
