Jackson looks for gold
Published:Monday | July 4, 2011 | 12:00 AM
LILLE, France:
Vere Technical's Shericka Jackson can hardly wait to get her IAAF World Youth Championships (WYC) campaign on the way and is determined to solidify her number one position on the world ranking in her pet event, the 200m.
Jackson, who leads the world's youths with a time of 23.32 seconds - a time she recorded in April while competing at the Carifta Games in Montego Bay - is looking to cap an impressive season with a new personal best and, of course, a medal at the WYC, which is scheduled for the French city of Lille from July 6-10.
With her 17th birthday falling a week after her assignment in Lille, Jackson is eyeing an early celebration and was eager to point out that despite her world-leading status, she will not be taking anything for granted.
"Being the number one 200m athlete in the world motivates me, this helps to push me forward because I know that a lot of people will be training hard and coming after me so it pushes me to work even harder," said Jackson. "I am looking for a 22-low timing and I expect to get that because I feel great and I believe I am in great form so I'm going there to do that.
"It was a great season for me, but I am now looking to bring that school form into the national set-up," said Jackson.
"Being the fastest youth over the distance certainly motivates me even more to go out there and do better. I want to first of all run my personal best, but my number one priority is to get that gold medal," Jackson added.
Jackson, who travelled to 2010 World Junior Championships in Moncton, Canada, is in the meantime extremely excited with her selection to this team.
"I'm feeling great, this is my first World Youth Championships selection so I'm very excited about that. Last year I went to the World Junior Championships but I didn't run an individual event there, so I'm happy that I came and made this team for a chance to represent my country," Jackson noted, before elaborating on the experience gained at last year's World Junior Championships.
"It was a great experience and I got a lot of motivation there from teammates and coaches, so coming here and making the World Youth team is a push for me and I'm just putting all my focus on going and doing my best in France," Jackson pointed out.