Olympic Games and World Athletics Championships medallist Shericka Jackson says she has nothing to prove even as she battles grief in the lead-up to the women’s 200m at the Wanda Diamond League in Lausanne, Switzerland, with qualification for the final at stake.

She is one of seven Jamaicans, including 2026 Commonwealth Games gold medallists Jordan Scott and Tajay Gayle, who are scheduled to compete at Stade Olympique de la Pontaise in the 12th meet of this season’s series.

Jackson, who has a season’s best 21.87 seconds — the fastest in the field — is set to take on Americans Brittany Brown, Anavia Battle, and Kayla White. Great Britain’s Amy Hunt, who is coming off a very successful European Championships with a record four gold medals, is also down to compete.

The Jamaican sprinter, mourning the death of MVP Track Club founder Stephen Francis, said she is not sure what to expect, having not competed since early July.

Shericka Jackson (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

“I am still trying to come to terms with losing a coach, coming to terms with my emotions. I’m a very emotional person most of the time, especially when I feel like I’m hurt, and now I’m trying to get on terms with my emotion. I’m trying to be okay because, [in] all honesty, I’m not okay,” she said. “But, as I said, I’m back out here. I’m trying to see how best I can eat, how I feel inside, just by being out here and doing something.”

Jackson said the loss of Francis, with whom she said she had worked for over 13 years, is a setback.

“I’m trying to fall in love with the sport again. I think every time I fall in love with the sport all over again, something happens and takes away a little bit of my joy. But I’m trying, and one step at a time.

“It has been really difficult. Some days I go to the track [to train] and I probably don’t do anything because I’m just not in the mood. As I said, I’m just back out here to see how my fitness level is.

“Back in June I was my happiest, I believe. And then right after Prefontaine [Classic], probably one of my saddest moments. So I can’t really say, as some days I will show up at practice and I’m really not in the mood. If I’m not in the mood, I stay home. So I don’t know if I’m as fit as back in June or probably [in the] early part of July,” she explained.

“Sometimes it’s our job. A lot of persons don’t really care about emotions. They just want to see you run. So I don’t know. For me, I am just taking it a day at a time. If it happens, it happens. If I run fast, I run fast, but it’s not something I pressure myself to prove. I don’t have anything to prove,” Jackson added.

Jordan Scott (Photo: AFP)

Meanwhile, the men’s triple jump is expected to be another highlight of the meet, with Italy’s Andy Diaz Hernandez coming off a massive national record 18.15m at the European Championships, the fourth-best effort of all time.

Jamaica’s Scott leads the Diamond League points series and will be hoping to return to his early season best that saw him jump over 17.60m at three meets. He is to battle a stellar field that should also include another 18.00m jumper, Portugal’s Pedro Pichardo. The other main contenders are Mohammed Triki Yasser of Algeria and Lazaro Martinez of Cuba.

Gayle and Olympic Games and World Athletics Championships silver medallist Wayne Pinnock are set to contest the men’s long jump.

The Jamaicans will be going up against the top three-ranked men’s long jumpers on the planet in world leader Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece, second-ranked Simon Ehammer of Switzerland, and number three-ranked Bozhidar Saraboyukov of Bulgaria. World Under-20 record holder Jorge Hodelin of Cuba is to also compete.

Rushell Clayton, rated fourth on the World Athletics women’s 400m hurdles rankings, has been consistent so far this season but has raced just once since the end of June. She is set to go up against the athletes ranked immediately ahead of her.

Slovakia’s Emma Zapletalova, the world’s number one-ranked women’s 400m hurdler, will start favourite. She is expected to be pushed by Americans Anna Cockrell and Jasmine Jones. Panama’s Gianna Woodruff will add depth to the field.

National 100m hurdles champion Demisha Roswell is down to face a strong field, led by a trio of fast Americans, including world leader Masai Russell, Alia Armstrong, and Alaysha Johnson. Nadine Visser of the Netherlands is also slated to feature.

Orlando Bennett is set to contest the 110m hurdles, which is not part of the Diamond League schedule.

The event in Lausanne is the first of back-to-back Diamond League meetings before the grand final, with the Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial to be staged in Poland on Sunday before the Weltklasse Zürich on Thursday. The two-day final is set for Brussells, Belgium, from September 4-5.

Five Jamaicans, including triple jumper Scott, sprint hurdler Bennett, intermediate hurdler Clayton, 400m runner Nickisha Pryce, and shot putter Danniel Thomas-Dodd have booked places in the lucrative final.