For Shericka Jackson, the women’s 200m on Thursday night was as much a race against history as a race against her fellow competitors at Hayward Field.
The 28-year-old won the 200m final at the 2022 World Track and Field Championships in a blazing 21.45 seconds, breaking the seven-year-old championship record and posting the second fastest time in history -- behind only Florence Griffith-Joyner‘s world record mark of 21.34 from 1988. (Video of Jackson’s 200m win is embedded above.)
With the win, Jackson also becomes the only woman in history to win world championship medals in the 100m, 200m, and 400m distances. She broke through onto the world stage as a 400-meter runner in 2015 before making the switch to the 100m and 200m in 2021.
“Last year was a learning year for me and I wanted to come out here and perform at my best,” Jackson said. “Last year, I never made (the) semifinal at the 200m at the Olympics and that was really, really disappointing for me.”
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After claiming her fifth 100m world title earlier this week, Jamaican countrywoman Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce picked up silver. Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, the defending world champion, claimed bronze.
Fraser-Pryce appeared as excited for Jackson’s success as her own. “Shericka ran 21.45 -- which is crazy,” she said. “I’m glad I was able to be a part of that race.”
EUGENE, OREGON - JULY 21: Gold medalist Shericka Jackson of Team Jamaica and silver medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Team Jamaica celebrate after competing in the Women’s 200m Final on day seven of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 at Hayward Field on July 21, 2022 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images for World Athletics)
Getty Images for World Athletics
Fraser-Pryce, an eight-time Olympic medalist who could match Jamaica’s Usain Bolt by winning her 14th world championship medal in Saturday’s 4x100m relay final, also confirmed that she is targeting the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“I want to preserve my strength and my body for 2023 and 2024 in Paris,” the 35-year-old said of her race program. “We just take it a day at a time, a year at a time, and see where it gets us.”
Americans Abby Steiner (22.26) and Tamara Clark (22.32) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the women’s 200m final.
For a full recap of day seven at the 2022 World Track and FIeld Championships, head over to OlympicTalk.
The NBC Sports research team contributed to this report.
Follow Alex Azzi on Twitter @AlexAzziNBC
