The fastest woman alive and defending champion, Shericka Jackson leads three Jamaican qualifiers to the semi-finals of the women’s 200m at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Jackson clocked a comfortable 22.51 to win heat four on Wednesday. She crossed the line ahead of Veronica Shanti Pereira of Singapore who set a new national record of 22.57 for second while Ivory Coast’s Jessika Gbai finished third in 22.78.

Natalliah Whyte clocked a time of 22.44 for second behind NCAA champion Julien Alfred of St Lucia (22.31). Bianca Williams of Great Britain (22.67) rounded out the top three.

Kevona Davis advanced with a time of 22.49 for second as America’s Gabby Thomas cruised to 22.26 to win heat five. Tasa Jiya of the Netherlands finished third in 22.97 seconds.

Former Hydel High standout Ashanti Moore failed to advance after registering a time of 23.12 for fifth in heat two.

Meanwhile, freshly minted 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson of America won in 22.16 while Marie Josée Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast produced a season’s best of 22.26 for second. Third place went to Cyprus’ Olivia Fotopoulou in a personal best of 22.65 seconds.

The semi-final of the event is scheduled for Thursday at 12:45 pm Jamaica time.