THE women’s and men’s 100m finals are expected to dominate today’s first day of the two-day Wanda Diamond League final at Hayward Field, University of Oregon, in Eugene.

Ten of 18 Jamaicans who will compete over the two days will be on show on the first day, including Shericka Jackson who is making her second attempt at winning the sprint double.

Jackson, who was second in the women’s 100m at the World Champions in Budapest, Hungary, last month will be accompanied by double Olympic Games sprint double champion Elaine Thompson-Herah and Natasha Morrison in the 100m today.

They will face off with high-flying World Championships gold medallist Sha’Carri Richardson of the USA and Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast.

The women’s 100m is set up to be the highlight of the day with all nine women having run under 11:00 seconds already this season; and despite her late return to form this season plus missing the 100m at the World Championships, Thompson-Herah could win today.

Thompson-Herah, who has run faster in her last three outings over the 100m and is coming off a 10.84-second win in Brussels a week ago, will be returning to the track where she ran her lifetime best 10.54 seconds in 2021, the second-fastest time ever.

Richardson has not run since the World Championships and will start as the favourite with her season-best 10.65 seconds, same as Jackson who will also be a contender.

American World champion Noah Lyles is also joint fastest in the world with 9.83 seconds and will also be running for the first time since Budapest.

While Lyles’ compatriot Christian Coleman, Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala, and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo — both finalists at the World Championships — come in with strong credentials, Jamaica’s rising star Kishane Thompson could be seen as a dark horse.

Despite his inexperience, running at the top level for only a few months since he burst on the scene in July with a 9.91 second-clocking in the first round at the Jamaican National Championships, Thompson has since run 9.85 seconds and his ceiling for improvement is still unknown.

Ackeem Blake and Yohan Blake will also make up the field, and they will also be hoping to spring an upset or two themselves.

Coming off her first wind-legal 15.00m jump, Shanieka Ricketts will be hopeful of at least increasing her lifetime best mark as she goes up against World Champion Yulimar Rojas who showed glimpses of being mortal at the World Championships.

It took final-round heroics for the Venezuelan to retain her gold medal, knocking the Jamaican out of the medals in the process, so Ricketts might be able to turn the tables today.

Kimberly Williams, who was also a finalist in Budapest, will also line up against the field that will include Liadagmis Povea of Cuba and Thea Lafond of Dominica.

Rusheen McDonald, the fastest Jamaican man in the 400m this season, will take on the field that will include World Championships silver medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith of Great Britain, Kirani James of Grenada, and American Bryce Deadmon.

Danniel Thomas-Dodd will also take part in the women’s shot put and will seek to match up with two-time World Championships gold medallist Chase Ealey of the USA, Sarah Mitton of Canada, and Auriol Dongmo of Portugal.