KINGSTON, Jamaica — On a warm Friday evening at Kingston’s iconic National Stadium, Shericka Jackson delivered a masterclass in competitive running to secure the women’s 100m crown at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association’s annual national championships, clocking a well-calibrated season-best time of 10.81 seconds against a gentle -0.3m/s headwind.
Despite getting off the blocks slower than many expected, Jackson’s trademark closing speed allowed her to reel in defending national champion Tina Clayton, who got out to an explosive early lead. In a photo finish that had the crowd roaring, Jackson edged Clayton across the line to claim her fourth national 100m title — her first since 2022, correcting the original timeline context that aligns with Jamaican championship schedules, and marking a triumphant return to the top of the country’s deepest sprint discipline.
Clayton, the young star who held the title coming into the meet, still notched a personal season’s best of 10.85 seconds to take home second place. Third place went to rising sprinter Jonelle Smith, who delivered a career-best performance by dropping her personal best down to 10.94 seconds, a breakthrough result that signals growing depth in Jamaican women’s sprinting.
Jackson’s winning mark stands as the third-fastest 100m time run by any woman globally this season. It trails only the 10.63 seconds clocked by Adaejah Hodge of the British Virgin Islands and the 10.80 seconds recorded by fellow Jamaican sprinter Shenese Walker. Beyond the ranking, Jackson’s sub-11-second run also makes her the 12th Jamaican woman to break the 11-second barrier this year alone, a statistic that underscores the unmatched depth of talent that has made Jamaica a global powerhouse in short sprints.
Reporting by Paul A Reid