GIVE HER TIME
Paul Francis eagerly optimistic after Shericka Jackson season debut
Although not placing any expectations for 2025, MVP Track Club coach Paul Francis says reigning 200m world champion Shericka Jackson is progressing well after injuries curtailed her 2024 season.
Jackson opened her season on Saturday with a second-place finish in the 60m at the Queen’s/Grace Jackson Invitational Meet at the National Stadium.
In her first race since July 2024, the 30-year-old, who has a personal best of 7.04 seconds over the shortest distance, clocked 7.18, finishing behind Jodean Williams, 7.15.
It was the first time since 2023 that Jackson competed in a 60m event. It’s also the earliest start to her season since 2019 when she ran the 200m at the same meet.
Francis told the Sunday Observer that he was quite satisfied with Jackson’s performance. “These meets are training meets,” he said. “We want to practise our execution and I thought she did quite well. She ran faster at this stage than she has ever run before, so it’s a very good look and that’s all I can say from my perspective.”
Jackson struggled with injuries last year and despite winning the 100m and 200m at the National Senior Athletics Championships last June, she was unable to compete at the Paris Olympics in August, despite making the trip to the French capital.
However, Francis says she’s in good physical condition ahead of a busy 2025 season.
“She’s training well and if there wasn’t some amount of recovery done, she wouldn’t have come on the track, so the fact she’s racing is self-explanatory,” he said.
Jackson will be looking to do a three peat in the 200m at the World Athletics Championships, which takes place in Tokyo, Japan, in September. She may also contest the 100m after winning silver in 2022 and 2023.
Francis, though, isn’t setting any specific objectives for her this year.
“We just try to get our athletes to be the best they can be at the time they need to be at their best. That will continue to be our philosophy,” he said.
Jackson’s last official race was on July 9 when she limped off the track at the Gyulai István Memorial in Hungary.
