TWO-TIME World Athletics Championships gold medallist Shericka Jackson has admitted she was “hurt” by a fifth-place finish in the women’s 200m of the Wanda Diamond League at the Bislett Games at Bislett Stadion in Oslo, Norway, on Thursday.

Jackson trailed home well behind the leaders, running 22.97 seconds — her worst performance in over two years. And while she stopped short of making any promises, said she was hoping for “at least a season’s best” at the BAUHAUS-Galan at Olympic stadium in Stockholm, Sweden, on Sunday.

At the pre-race press conference on Saturday, Jackson, who confirmed she would be defending her sprint double titles at the National Championships later this month, said her season has been good so far.

“I have not run my best 200m yet but I’ve been working, and I think I just need to put a good 200m together before the Jamaica championship — which hopefully it’s tomorrow,” she said.

If she does not get what she wants she said there is still time to work on what she needs to.

“If not, then I still have couple of weeks for the Jamaica trials,” she said. “So once I complete the Jamaica trials, then everything afterwards matters. It’s just to go to the championship and then we take it from there.

Jackson, who has also won medals in the 100m at the last three major championships — the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, and the World Championships in 2022 in Eugene, Oregon and Budapest, Hungary last year — is one of 10 Jamaicans who will be competing in Stockholm where the organisers are predicting warmer weather than the cold, rainy conditions in Oslo, Norway, four days ago.

“I was a little bit hurt because it’s been two years since I’ve lost a 200m race so I was a little bit hurt,” she admitted. “But I have to trust my coach, and I trust myself and what I’m capable of, and I know how training is going so it’s just to stay positive. I’ve always been positive and I have an amazing staff group and friends that keep me grounded so I don’t think it’s very difficult to stay positive after Oslo.

“I don’t have a time set specifically; it’s just to execute. Once I execute a good 200m then a season-best is possible.”

Today Jackson will face American Brittany Brown, who won in Oslo, as well as two other Americans, Anavia Battle and Jenna Prandini.

Rushell Clayton lost her world lead in the women’s 400m hurdles on Friday when American world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone ran 52.07 seconds to win at the Ed Moses Classic in Atlanta, Georgia — in her first hurdles race in nearly two years.

Today Clayton will also have to dig deep to win her fourth-straight race as she will face world champion Femke Bol of the Netherlands who will be running her first 400m hurdles race of the season.

World Championships finalists Andrenette Knight and Janieve Russell, who were second and third behind Clayton in Oslo, both running season-best times, will also hope to feature in the event today.

Shanieka Ricketts, who just missed a medal at last year’s World Championships, and Kimberly Williams will contest the women’s triple jump where they will go up against World Indoor champion Thea Lafond of Dominica and Cuba’s Leyanis Perez Hernandez, who won in Oslo.

Fedrick Dacres will also hope a quick turnaround from Oslo will work in his favour as he goes up against yet another deep field in the men’s discus throw, led by world record holder Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania, world champion Daniel Stahl of Sweden, and Lukas Weishaidinger of Austria.

Danniel Thomas-Dodd will contest the women’s shot put where she will face world champion Chase Jackson of the USA, Sarah Mitton of Canada, Jiayuan Song of China, as well as Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands.

Natasha Morrison is the lone Jamaican in the women’s 100m and will hope to get the better of Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith of the Ivory Coast, Zaynab Dosso of Italy, Gina Mariam Bass Bittaye of Gambia, and American Brown who will be doing the double.

World Championships 4x100m relay bronze medallist Ryiem Forde will hope to build on his second-place finish at the Ostrava Golden Spikes meet on Tuesday when he contests the men’s 100m.

He will face Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme, American Kyree King, and Japan’s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, who are expected to start as podium favourites.