For the first time in years, there are uncertainties about the top contenders for the women’s sprints at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association’s (JAAA) National Championships that gets underway at the National Stadium this week.

The only safe bet could be Shericka Jackson retaining her sprint double and a third-straight 200m title, given the absence of her two main rivals, five-time world 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and two-time Olympic Games sprint double champion Elaine Thompson-Herah.

Fraser-Pryce is set to make her first appearance in spikes this year at the national championships while Thompson-Herah only ran her first 100m of the season a week ago.

In contrast, Fraser-Pryce had competed four times leading up to the JAAA national championships and Thompson-Herah eight times.

Jackson, meanwhile, has raced several times over the 100m and 200m and is ranked in the top three in the world in both disciplines and will come into the weekend as the favourite to lead the charge to Budapest, Hungary.

National Under-20 record holder Alana Reid, who just signed a professional contract, is the second-fastest Jamaican so far this year with 10.92 seconds, Shashalee Forbes ran a personal best 10.98 seconds while Kiara Grant also dipped under the 11.00 seconds barrier with 10.99 seconds.

Kevona Davis, who was a finalist in both the 100m and 200m at the NCAA Outdoors nationals, will attend the championships for the first time in years while Briana Williams who was part of the relay teams at the 2021 Olympic Games and last year’s World Championships, and Kemba Nelson who was second in the 100m final last year will also be in the mix.

The well-respected Stephen Francis who coaches at the MVP club said earlier this week his sprinters would take up a few of the spots and that could include Tina and Tia Clayton, Natasha Morrison and Shockoria Wallace.