Jamaica's Shericka Jackson a no-show at 200 meters and won't race for individual medal at Olympics

Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson a no-show at 200 meters and won’t race for individual medal at Olympics

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FILE - Shericka Jackson, of Jamaica, wins a heat in the women’s 100-meter run at the World Athletics Championships, July 16, 2022, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)

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Helene Parisot, right, of France, and Daryll Neita, left, of Britain, stand near the empty start blocks for Shericka Jackson, of Jamaica, ahead of their women’s 200-meter heat at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

By EDDIE PELLS

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson pulled out of the women’s 200 meters Sunday and will not race for an individual medal at the Paris Games.

Jackson, the defending world champion who is the second-fastest woman of all time in the 200, had previously withdrawn from the 100 meters, saying it was partly because of a leg injury she suffered in a tuneup race last month. It is unclear why she pulled out of Sunday’s race.

It turns American Gabby Thomas into the clear favorite to win the 200. Thomas cruised through her qualifying heat in 22.20 seconds, as did Julien Alfred, who returned to the track and ran 22.41 about 13 hours after beating Sha’Carri Richardson in the 100 meters.

Jackson’s exit deals yet another blow to the Jamaican women, a perennial Olympic powerhouse that had captured 15 of the 24 Olympic medals in the 100 and 200 between 2008 and 2021.

All three sprinters from Jamaica’s 100-meter sweep in Tokyo have been absent in Paris. Elaine Thompson-Herah, the 100 and 200-meter champion, shut down her season earlier this year with an Achilles tendon injury.

Only minutes before Saturday night’s 100 semifinal, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce pulled out with an undisclosed injury, saying on social media “it is difficult for me to find the words to express my disappointment.”

Jackson, who won last year’s world championships in 21.41 — only .07 off Florence Griffith Joyner’s 36-year-old world record — ran a pedestrian 22.29 at her country’s Olympic trials in June.

Then, in a race in Hungary on July 9, she pulled up before the finish of a 200-meter race, leaving her form in doubt with the Olympics less than a month away.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

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FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

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USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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