Shelly, Shericka, Elaine set to clash in Lausanne

FOLLOWING Jamaica’s sweep of the medals in the women’s 100 metres final at the recent World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Jamaicans Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson and Elaine Thompson Herah, the three fastest women on the planet over the event, will renew rivalry on Friday, August 26 in Lausanne, Switzerland, in the penultimate regular Diamond League meet of the season, with Zurich closing out the regular season the following week.

In what is expected to be a preview before the grand finals of the Diamond League series on September 7-8 in Zurich, it should be fireworks all the way as world leader Fraser-Pryce, with her season best 10.62 seconds at the Monaco meet, will be hoping to extend her unbeaten run and possibly get below 10.6 in the event. Jackson, who finished second to her countrywoman in Monaco in a season’s and personal best 10.71, will be hoping for something special, while Thompson Herah, who was third in Eugene and who has a season’s best of 10.79, will be highly motivated after her double sprint success at the Commonwealth Games. There are reports that the double sprint Olympic champion has been “flying” in training since, and could return to her best.

While all three Jamaicans will be hoping for another one-two-three finish in the event, the likes of Marie-Josée Ta Lou of Cote d’Ivoire, Alexander Hobbs of the United States and home girl, Mujinga Kambundji, will be hoping to upset the Jamaicans. Ta Lou finished a close third in Monaco behind Fraser-Pryce, and Jackson, in a personal best 10.72, and could be the one to crash the Jamaica party.

Eight other Jamaicans will be on show at the meet, with another trio in the women’s 400 metre hurdles. Here, the Monaco winner, Rushell Clayton, who raced to a win in a personal best 53.33 seconds to be the fastest Jamaican so far in the event this season, will be hoping to improve on that time as Andrenette Knight, with a season’s best 53 39, and Commonwealth Games champion Janieve Russell, who was second in Monaco and who has a season’s best of 53.52, will be gunning for special performances. World Championships silver medallist Femke Bol of the Netherlands and the bronze medallist Dalilah Mohammad of the United States will also face the start in this event.

In other events on the track involving Jamaican females, World Championships 400-metre finalists Stephenie Ann McPherson and Candice McLeod will take on Paulino Marileidy of the Dominican Republic and Sada Williams of Barbados. McLeod upstaged Williams in Monaco by finishing second with the Barbadian placing third. McPherson was fourth.

In field events, Commonwealth champion Shanieka Ricketts and Kimberly Williams will take on World champion Yulimar Rojas in the women’s triple jump.

Hansle Parchment will be the sole Jamaican male at the meet. After recovering from a hamstring injury which forced him to miss the final in Eugene, he finished a close third behind the United States duo of Grant Halloway and Trey Cunningham in Monaco. He will renew rivalry with both in the men’s 110-metre hurdles in Lausanne.