Missing Out on Beating Florence Griffith Joyner, Shericka Jackson Issues Bold Statement for World’s Fastest Female Runner

The women’s 100m and 200m world records have been left untouched for 35 long years. Back in 1988, during the US Olympic Trials, Florence Griffith-Joyner set the 100m world record with a time of 10.49 seconds. She followed this spectacular feat by setting another world record at the 1988 Seoul Olympics when she ran 21.34 seconds in the women’s 200m division.

Over the years, many talented athletes, like Elaine Thompson Herah (21.53), Gabrielle Thomas (21.60), and Marion Jones (21.62) have come close, but one athlete has almost reached within touching distance of the women’s 200m world record.

With her recent 200m world championship run in Budapest, Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson bettered her own personal best when she ran the 2nd fastest time of the 200m event with her 21.41 run. As the 2023 Brussels Diamond League approaches, the fastest 200m runner alive has assured fans that she will be aiming to break a 35-year-old world record in Belgium.

Shericka Jackson sets her sight on the women’s 200m world record

Last year in Oregon, Shericka Jackson stormed the 200m event and set the second-fastest time in the discipline with 21.45 seconds, which was just 0.11 seconds shy of Flo-Jo’s world record. This year, in the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Jackson once again dominated the 200m event against the likes of Gabrielle Thomas and Sha’Carri Richardson and bettered her own personal best by running 21.41 seconds.

Now, with the Brussels leg of the 2023 Diamond League just on the horizon, the Jamaican track sensation has revealed that she will be running to set a new world record.

According to a Track Spice tweet, Jackson claimed, “Coach and I have spoken and we are going after (the record) this year. I hope to get it (Friday). If not, we have another shot in Eugene.” The 200m women’s world champion also highlighted that she was quite close to the record at the world championships in Budapest and, with a little bit of help from the wind, she would have broken the record.

She further revealed that no race is perfect and she just wants to give her best in Brussels and put things in place since she is within reaching distance of Flo-Jo’s world record. Jackson also joked about hoping for Jamaican weather in Brussels, which might help her finally set a new women’s 200m world record. While Shericka Jackson aims to beat Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 200m world record, her Jamaican teammates are also not too far off from breaking Flo-Jo’s 35-year-old 100m world record.

Jamaican female sprinters within touching distance of Flo-Jo’s 100m world record

As Shericka Jackson sets her sights on the 200m world record, her compatriots will be aiming to set a new women’s 100m world record soon. Florence Griffith-Joyner set the women’s 100m world record in 1988 after smashing Evelyn Ashford’s 10.79-second world record by stopping the clock in 10.49 seconds at the US Olympic Trials.

Chasing Flo-Jo is Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah, who holds the second fastest time in the discipline with 10.54 seconds, which she achieved at the 2021 Prefontaine Classic Diamond League.

Read more: Noah Lyles Joins Jamaican Shericka Jackson In Elite 12 Member Club After World Athletics Championship 2023

Following suit is another Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who recorded a time of 10.60 seconds at the 2021 Lausanne Diamond League meet. While a new 100m world record may take some time, there are high chances of a new women’s 200m world record being set in Brussels. As Shericka Jackson aims for another shot at the 200m world record, fans will be glued to their screens awaiting the final finish time.

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