World Champions Shericka Jackson and Danielle Williams were winners at Thursday’s Wanda Diamond League’s Weltklasse at Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich, Switzerland.

Jackson and Williams took the 200m and 100m hurdles events, respectively.

Less than a week after the end of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, there were podium finishes for Tajay Gayle, Shanieka Ricketts, Natasha Morrison, Elaine Thompson-Herah, and Adelle Tracey.

World Championships finalists Roshawn Clarke did not finish the men’s 400m hurdles, pulling up after a few hurdles.

Shericka Jackson made light work of the women’s 200m, winning easily in 21.82 seconds (-0.8m/s), six days after she ran 21.41, the second-fastest time ever, to retain her World Championships title.

Great Britain’s Daryll Neita (22.25) was second and American Kayla White was third in 22.33.

Jackson, who says she has two more races to go before closing her season, said she wanted to put on a show.

“I wanted to come out here and perform,” she said.

And when asked about next year’s Olympic Games, she added, “To be honest, the season has not finished yet, so my focus is not yet on the Olympic Games, but on this 2023 season, I just want to finish this season well.”

Williams won her first Diamond League race of the season, running 12.54 (-0.2m/s) to beat Americans Alaysha Johnson, who was second in 12.58, and World Champs bronze medallist Kendra Harrison, who was third in 12.59.

Megan Tapper, who was not on the original list of athletes down to compete, was fifth in 12.64.

“It is a wonderful feeling coming out here as a World Champion. I mean, I have to give all the thanks for that,” Williams said.

“The race was a bit slower than I expected, but you know, I came out injury-free, and with a win, so I can’t complain,” she said.

Morrison was second in the women’s 100m in 11.00 (-0.2m/s), the same time given to third-placed Thompson-Herah. American World Champion Sha’Carri Richardson won with 10.88.

Another Jamaican, Shashalee Forbes, was fifth in 11.12.

Thompson-Herah, who was running only her fifth 100m race this season and had run a relay leg in Budapest, was pleased with her performance.

“This race was really good, it was my first race after our National Championships. The fact that I did not make it to the World Championships in an individual race was hard. I wanted to stop the season, but my husband changed my mindset,” she said.

“I am a warrior, this is not about crying, so achieving a [season best] today is great. You just need patience. It was a pleasure for me being part of the Jamaican relay team in Budapest. A good story is not about winning all the time, it is also about the difficult times. I have a great support system, like my grandmother. I have a strong support team with my friends, my family, and my husband. When you are down, you often do not hear a word from others,” Thompson-Herah said.

World Championships finalist Shanieka Ricketts was second in the triple jump with a best of 14.78m (0.6m/s), while Kimberly Williams was ninth in 13.75m (0.0m/s). Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela won with 15.15m (0.2m/s).

“It is outside of my control, in terms of what happens on the day, so all I have to do is to control the things I can control, which is to jump the best I can on that day,” Ricketts said.

“Of course, I was disappointed to come out fourth again in Budapest, but coming here and finishing in second place, it is like icing on the cake. I just hope to keep building on this.”

Meanwhile, another last-moment heroics from Greece’s World Champion Miltiadis Tentoglou denied Gayle the win in the men’s long jump.

Gayle, the bronze medal winner in the World Championships, led with 8.07m (-0.5m/s) into the final round before Tentoglou produced 8.20m (-0.5ms).

Carey McLeod was ninth with 7.60m in his first Diamond League meet.

Tracey was third in her Diamond League debut, running 1:59.05 minutes in the 800m, while Natoya Goule-Topping, who lead with 150 metres to go, faded to seventh in 2:00.10.

Laura Muir of Great Britain won with 1:57.71 from Catriona Bissett of Australia (1:58.77).