Racers Grand Prix Chief Executive Officer Devon Blake is confident that the event’s appeal will increase now that Jamaican sprint superstar Shericka Jackson has been confirmed to compete, with fans eagerly awaiting her performance.

The two-time 200m world champion makes a return to Racers GP after a year’s absence and is set to line up in the women’s 200m on June 7 at the National Stadium.

It will be Jackson’s second 200m of the season following her second-place finish at the Xiamen Diamond League last month where she clocked 22.79 seconds.

The 30-year-old, who is the second-fastest woman in the history of the event with 21.41 seconds, competed in the 100m at the 2023 edition of the Racers GP where she produced a world-leading 10.78 seconds.

Despite the move up to the half-lap event, Blake told the Jamaica Observer that he’s expecting another impressive showing from Jackson.

“Shericka is one of the crowd pullers that the Jamaican public loves, so we’re looking forward to her having this opportunity to perform in front of her crowd and get her confidence up and running at tip-top shape,” he said.

“Racers Grand Prix comes at a time where most athletes are fine-tuning their [preparations] so you get special times. Last time she competed, she ran a world-leading time, so we’re expecting much of the same.”

Blake also praised the Stephen Francis-led MVP Track Club with Jackson, Olympic 100m silver medallist Kishane Thompson and a number of other star names from the club set to compete at the event.

“Racers has always been a meet that the MVP club has supported so we’re always thankful to them for that. Each year, you’ll find persons from MVP who participate and this year is a great year where both of their top performers in Kishane [Thompson] and Shericka [will feature] plus we have the Clayton twins [Tia and Tina],” he said.

With more local and international athletes to be confirmed in the coming weeks, Blake is expecting the meet will showcase exceptional performances given the high calibre of competitors expected.

“We have Masai Russell, the Olympic [100mh] champion and she also broke the American record a week or two ago so we’re expecting fast times. Tobi Amusan will be competing in the 100m so we’re looking forward to seeing what time she can run over the flat 100m. We’re expecting some pretty special performances,” said Blake.

“Oblique Seville, this is his home turf, so we expect him to do well and it will be a nice face-off between Oblique and Kishane and the young and upcoming athletes like Gary Card, so he should be looking forward to going sub-10 because he was on schedule for that at Champs and it didn’t work out because of the injury but he’s back in top shape.”

Bleachers tickets for Racers GP will be free until May 31 with Blake confirming over a thousand has been claimed up to two weeks ago. He also revealed that more tickets will be given away through special marketing events in the coming days, starting with Emancipation Park this afternoon.

Blake says the fan support will be critical as it helps to elevate the event.

“Athletes thrive in an environment that pushes them so when they hear the roar of the crowd and cheer for each race, that gives you a special motivation to perform. This year we have quite a bit of star athletes that are going to be performing so we’re expecting the Jamaican crowd to come out and support them,” he said.

Shericka Jackson.