Sprints star says she wants to break the Jamaican 400m record

Shericka Jackson won 100m silver medal behind Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon

Sprints star says she wants to break the Jamaican 400m record

Funmilayo Fameso 23:59 - 30.08.2023

Sprints star Shericka Jackson revealed she's interested in breaking the 400m Jamaican record and running super fast in the event.

Shericka Jackson has revealed her intentions of breaking the women's 400m Jamaican Record of 49.30s set by Lorraine Fenton in 2002.

She spoke on this in an interview with Colin Jackson in the press conference organised for the Zurich Diamond League, stating that the record is within her grasp if she decides to go back to the 400m.

Shericka Jackson reveals she wants to break the Jamaican 400m record
Shericka Jackson at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon

"Definitely, I want to break the Jamaican 400m record, which is 49.3. My Personal Best (PB) was 49.4 back in 2019," she said.

Jackson started her career as a 400m sprinter, winning bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics, 2015 World Championships and 2019 World Championships. At the same competitions, she added medals in the 4 x 400 m relays, taking silver, gold, and bronze, respectively.

However, in 2021, she switched to shorter sprints and has achieved great strides in the events. She won bronze in the 100m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, adding a gold and bronze for the 4x100 m and 4x400 m relays. 

The Jamaican 200m record holder also revealed how she wanted to double at the Jamaican trials but was refused by her coach.

"I wanted to run the 100 and 400 at the Jamaica trials, but coach wouldn't allow me. I definitely hope one day that coach and I can sit, and we go back to the 400 because I definitely want to see how fast I can run, knowing that I'm faster in the 100m than before," Jackson continued.

When asked if she thinks she can go sub-49s or sub-48s, the triple medallist at the just concluded World Championships in Budapest said she's 

"Back when I had a different coach, he said I was capable of running 47 and definitely I still believe that...As I said, right now I'm on 49.4, and over the years I've gotten faster over the 100 and 200. So if I'm able to put together a solid 400, definitely a solid 48, 47 is possible."

Jackon won the 200m world title in Budapest in a jaw-dropping Championship Record (CR) of 21.41s - the second-fastest time in history, breaking her previous record of 21.45s. 

She also won 100m silver in 10.72s behind Sha'Carri Richardson's winning CR of 10.65s and anchored her country's 4x100m relay team to another silver medal.

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