Given Jamaica’s rich history of winning medals at the Olympic Games, it is hard to believe that the country is yet to win gold in the women’s 100m hurdles.

Jamaica won its first Olympic medal in the event at the Tokyo Games in 2021 when Megan Tapper secured bronze.

That wait for gold could end this year, as Jamaica’s outstanding speedster Ackera Nugent is one of the hot favourites to win the event.

“I would say, yes, I want to be that person, but it all depends on who wants it more on the day,” said Nugent. “I know that I want it, and I will be going there to do my best in the event. [But] it is not only me, we have three amazing hurdlers here, including a world champion, so I expect all three of us to do great at the championships,” she said.

Reigning world champion Danielle Williams and Janeek Brown are the other Jamaican women competing in the women’s 100m hurdles in Paris.

The 22-year-old Nugent, who will be participating in her first Olympic Games, is the second-fastest woman in the world this year in the event, with the time of 12.28 seconds which she achieved at the National Championships to break the Jamaican record. American Masai Russell is the fastest woman globally with her time of 12.25.

Nugent finished fifth in the final of the event at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

She emphasised that she has prepared herself mentally and physically for the event and is not putting herself under any undue pressure at the championships, focusing instead on executing a clean race.

“I will say there is no pressure on me because I don’t live up to the expectations of what people say of me or how people feel about me. But at the end of the day, I know what I am capable of doing, and I also know where my body is,” Nugent noted.

“I am not going to push my body into a zone or into something that I know it can’t manage because of the pressure and expectations of other people. Everybody knows that [the] hurdles [will comprise] a tough field of athletes, but winning a medal will be a great opportunity for me.”

“I feel like I need to focus on the little things that I can control, and when the day comes, it will come down to who is more prepared. Yes, in this field of hurdlers, and the way hurdling has evolved, you cannot afford to make any mistake,” the sprint hurdler stated.

The soft-spoken athlete, a former Excelsior High School standout, said she is looking forward to competing in her first Olympic Games.

“I am feeling a bit excited and anxious every now and then, but the experience of being at my first Olympics is great. Preparations-wise, we are just getting back into things, and this is my first hurdles session [Sunday] in a while, so it is like feeling stuff out a little bit,” she said.

Ackera Nugent powers to victory in the 100m hurdles final during the national senior athletics championships at the National Stadium on June 30, 2024. (Photo: Collin Reid)

NUGENT… in this field of hurdlers, and the way hurdling has evolved, you cannot afford to make any mistake (Photo: Naphtali Junior)