‘Superfast’ Jackson has ‘unfinished business’ with 400m
Having declared that she is “superfast” now, Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson has promised that a solid race in a possible return to the 400m could result in a blistering sub-48 seconds clocking and a national record.
“I think back [to] when I had a different coach, he said I was capable of running 47 seconds and, definitely, I still believe that,” she said.
She was addressing the media at a press conference ahead of Thursday’s Weltklasse Zurich Diamond League meeting.
Jackson, 29, who is known for her 400-metre prowess since her glory days at Vere Technical High School, amassed bronze in the individual event, gold in the 4×400 metres, and bronze at the 2015 Beijing World Athletics Championships. In 2016 she landed bronze at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
To date, she remains second on the all-time Jamaican list with her personal best of 49.47 seconds, set at the 2019 Doha World Championships. This is the closest time to Lorraine Fenton’s national record of 49.30, set in 2002.
Meanwhile, only two women in the history of athletics have run sub-48 seconds in the likes of world record holder Marita Koch of Germany (47.60) and Czechoslovakia’s Jarmila Kratochvílová (47.99), while 11 women have gone under 49 seconds.
But Jackson asserted that she has gotten faster, having clocked an astonishing 21.41 seconds in the 200 metres at the recently concluded World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and has produced a blazing 10.65 at the national trials last month.
This, she stated, could earn her the title of the third woman in history to run a sub-48 seconds in the event.
“It is just to trust your body and trust your coach. As I said, right now I’m at 49.47…Over the years I’ve gotten faster over the 100m and 200m, so once I’m able to run and put together a solid 400m, definitely I think 48 or 47 is possible,” she added.
In addition, her “unfinished business” with the one-lap event has narrowed her focus to breaking Fenton’s national record.
“I said I wanted to break the Jamaican national record, which is currently 49.30. My personal best is 49.47 set back in 2019,” she said.
“I wanted to run the 100m and the 400m at the Jamaica trials, but coach wouldn’t allow me. I definitely hope someday coach and I can sit and we go back to the 400, because I want to see how fast I can run now that I am superfast than before…As I said, I hope me and coach can revisit the 400,” Jackson added.