With Shericka Jackson having withdrawn from the 200m due to injury, Jamaica’s two other representatives Niesha Burgher and Lanae-Tava Thomas both booked their spots in the semi-finals after placing second in their respective first round races at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.

READ: Shericka Jackson pulls out of 200m

Burgher clocked 22.54 seconds (0.0m/s) to finish behind American gold medal favourite Gabrielle Thomas who won in 22.20 seconds, with Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji taking the other qualifying spot with 22.75 seconds.

Thomas, who is in her first season representing Jamaica, ran 22.70 seconds (0.2m/s), beaten to the finish line by American Brittany Brown who clocked 22.38 seconds. Great Britain’s Bianca Williams placed third in 22.77 seconds.

Jackson’s wait for an individual Olympic gold medal will have to wait for at least another four years after she failed to take her place in the starting blocks in the first round of the event.

It is understood that Jackson, the fastest woman alive in the 200m, is not fully recovered from the fitness issues that forced her to pull out of the earlier 100m event.

-Paul A Reid