Jackson bows into half-lap action

DEFENDING WORLD and Diamond League 200-metre champion Shericka Jackson will open her outdoor half-lap season this Sunday at the Diamond League event in Rabat, Marrakech.

Jackson is one of 11 Jamaicans down to compete in the fourth leg of the Wanda Diamond League series and will be hoping for a strong start in defence of her title. Jackson is also the 100 metres Diamond League champion.

Rabat will actually mark the second time Jackson will be competing this season. Two weeks ago, she opened up her season at a Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association(JAAA) All Comers meet at the National Stadium, winning the 100 metres in 11.03 seconds.

Two athletes in Mujinga Kambundji of Switzerland, with 22.87 seconds, and Ida Korsloft of Denmark, with 22.60, are the only athletes in the field to go sub-23 seconds in the line-up and could push the Jamaican.

After a dazzling display at last Saturday’s Jamaica Athletics Invitational (JAI), where she stormed to victory in an impressive world lead of 53.72 seconds in the 400-metre hurdles, Rushell Clayton will lead three Jamaicans into the event on Sunday. She will be joined by Shian Salmon, who was third at the JAI in a season’s best 54.47. Janieve Russell, who finished sixth in 55.82 will be the other Jamaican down to compete.

Ukraine’s Viktoriya Tkachuk, with a personal best of 53.76, will open her season here.

Danniel Thomas-Dodd will be the other Jamaican woman at the meet, contesting the shot put, where she has a season best of 19.08 metres.

Former 100 metres world champion Yohan Blake, Julian Forte, and Rohan Watson will start in the men’s 100 metres.

Forte is off to a great start in the event this season after his 10.07-second clocking at the JAAA All Comers meet two weeks ago and a season’s best 10.02 seconds at the JAI.

Blake, with a season’s best 10.43, will attempt to improve on his two subpar performances, eighth at the Miramar Invitational and ninth at the Xiamen Diamond League.

Watson clocked 10.29 for sixth in Shanghai and a season’s best 10.27 to finish fourth in Xiamen.

The other Jamaican man in action on the track will be World Indoor 400-metre bronze medallist Rusheen Mcdonald.

Botswana’s Bayapo Ndori, with a season’s best 44.10 seconds and world number two in the 400 will lead the field here.

Throwers Fredrick Dacres and Traves Smikle will contest the discus throw. Smikle has a season’s best 67. 83 metres while Dacres season best is 65.94.