DESPITE missing out on a medal at the Paris Olympics in the summer, national record holder Ackera Nugent says she’s not fazed by criticisms she’s received and is set on improving her standards in the sprint hurdles.

Making her debut at the Summer Games in the French capital, the 22-year-old, who was seen as a medal contender due to her impressive season, was unable to secure a podium finish as she clipped her hurdles and didn’t finish the women’s 100m final.

However, Nugent finished 2024 as the world leader in the event, clocking a personal best 12.24 seconds at the Rome Diamond League at the end of August and thereby lowering the national record of 12.28 seconds which she did at the National Championships in June. It also saw her became the fourth0fastest woman in history.

While disappointed by the result in Paris, Nugent says she’s looking forward to greater things and disregards the critics.

“I have room for improvement,” she said in an interview with sprint legend Michael Johnson. “I have room for growth. And allowing social media and people getting to you in certain ways, it really doesn’t matter because we as athletes go through certain stuff that people don’t know about so allowing the noise on the outside to affect you, I don’t got time for that.

“Whatever [social] media says, that’s their opinion because they’re fans; they don’t know as much about the sport as us the athletes so you can’t allow that to pressure you. When people are like, ‘She did all of that right now and she didn’t medal at the Olympics,’ I’m just like, ‘It’s just a medal.’ I have four more years, I have so many more years to get a medal — and at the end of the day a medal doesn’t define how great of an athlete you are.”

The former Excelsior high, Baylor University, and University of Arkansas star recently signed on to the first season of Grand Slam Track next year, the new cash-rich track competition founded and led by Johnson.

Along with the 100m hurdles, Nugent will compete in the flat 100m and says she’s eager to test herself in both events.

“I really do love the 100m but my coach doesn’t let me train for it,” she said. “I don’t know why, but I’ve always liked running the 100m. Having this meet is good for me because it’s a day running the 100m then the next day running the hurdles. I think it will allow me to trust my speed a little more, and it can probably [help] me in hurdles.”

Over the four meets, with the first slated for the National Stadium in Kingston, Nugent will go up against reigning Olympic champion Masai Russell, of the USA, and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Puerto Rico’s 2020 Olympic gold medallist.

She says it will be a great way to prove herself against some of the world’s best.

“This isn’t college or high school anymore; it’s actually a shift, and people are actually now seeing me getting the opportunity to be a part of a great meet like this,” she said. “I know it’s the best of the best so it’s basically each time I know that I step out there to do both events, I’ve just got to be on my A-game.

“I’m looking at it like I’m the target so it’s just like everybody’s coming here to win, everybody has money on the line, and I’m like, ‘Closed mouths don’t get fed,’ so I got to open up and keep it pushing.”

Four-time Olympic champion Johnson says Nugent is the perfect fit for the new competition.

“We picked you because you’re one of the fastest,” he said. “You’re a rising star; we’ve seen you at college and what you’ve done there. Now, getting to the senior level and what you’ve been doing, you’re one of the bright stars of that event — and this was before I knew you ran 11.09 in the flat 100m.

“What you bring and this personality that we’re seeing, that’s something we want in this league — the best athletes who are willing to put their personalities [on display], that want to connect with fans, but are also going to get out there and compete.”

Grand Slam Track will take place from April to June in Jamaica, Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, with the National Stadium hosting the first stop from April 4 to 6.