The 2023 track and field season promises much fireworks in the women short sprints, the marquee event being the 2023 World Championship scheduled for Budapest, Hungary from August 19-27. And, given the high quality of the Jamaican female performances over the last two seasons, naturally there are great expectations for this season. But there are many questions that will be answered such as which of the three Jamaican sprinters will dominate the sprints in 2023? Let us look back at how we got here.
Recapping Thompson-Herah 2021 exploits
In 2021, Elaine Thompson-Herah was at her imperious best, winning a total of three Olympic gold medals in Tokyo, to include an Olympic Record of 10.61 in the 100m, and a Personal Best of 21.53 in the 200m, which were National Records at the time. Two weeks later, in Eugene, Oregon, the global superstar would go on, to lower her Personal Best in the 100m, to 10.54, sending shock waves throughout the track and field world. Thompson-Herah capped off her season, winning the 100m Diamond League in a Meet Record of 10.65, and was voted the female athlete of the year, 2021, having captured also, numerous prestigious local, regional and international awards.
Thompson’s injury-plagued 2022 season
Against this background of phenomenal performances and achievements, it was expected that, in the subsequent year, 2022, Thompson-Herah would have eclipsed those performances of 2021. However, it was not to be, as injury struck in the form of an acute tendonitis of the rotator cuff, which changed her trajectory. Despite her injuries, Thompson-Herah was still able to secure the World Championship bronze medal in the 100m, even as she finished an uncharacteristic and disappointing seventh in the 200m. There was some degree of consolation for the double-double Olympic Champion, as she would later capture the sprint double at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
Fraser-Pryce and Jackson dominant in 2022
In the female sprints, the 2022 season belonged to the two other Jamaicans, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, who won the 100m and 200m at the Oregon World Championship in Championship Records of 10.67 and 21.45, respectively. Their sheer dominance was on full display in Oregon as Jackson and Fraser-Pryce also finished in second place in the 100m and 200m, respectively. Both Fraser-Pryce and Jackson were crowned 2022 Diamond League Champions in their respective pet events. Interestingly, Fraser-Pryce was the defending 100m Champion from the 2017 London World Championship, while Shericka Jackson won her first global title in the 200m, having switched events from the 400m, where she had previously won bronze medal at the Olympics and World Championship.
Who will dominate in 2023?
The questions that are now being asked by track and field experts, pundits and fans, with the return of a seemingly healthy Thompson-Herah, will Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, be able to repeat and defend their World Championship titles or will the defending Olympic Champion finally claim the elusive gold medals at these Championships? Just how fast will they go over the distances? Will the Jamaican National Records for the 100m and 200m, be lowered yet again?
Assuming that all three ladies are healthy, fit and fully-motivated, will they push each other to the hilt, and finally break the seemingly elusive 100m and 200m World Records held by the late Florence Griffiths-Joyner?
Clearly, the three “stars” are aligning; probably a fourth or a fifth could join the “constellation”, and take sprinting to uncharted and unimaginable territories. We have a clear seven months, to see the unfolding of what could be, the greatest spectacle ever, in both male and female sprinting.
Henley E. Taylor
Freelance Sports Writer and Analyst
Henleytaylor1965@gmail.com
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