Jackson sizzles

Secures 400m gold as Fraser-Pryce takes aim at 200m at PanAm Games

SHERICKA JACKSON impressed, striking gold in the women’s 400m final at the Pan American Games yesterday and as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce gets set to make her assault on the podium today, the star sprinter said that contrary to reports that she made a switch from the 100m to the 200m, the intention was always to do the longer distance.

Fraser-Pryce showed up here yesterday and won her semifinal in a time of 22.90 seconds to comfortably place herself in today’s final inside the Villa Deportiva Nacional Videna.

“Honestly, there was no switch,” Fraser-Pryce told The Gleaner. “I was always scheduled to do the 200m. I don’t know what happened in terms of the registration, but I was always down to compete in the 200m. I was just as shocked as everybody else when I heard there was a switch because as far as I knew, it was always the 200m.”

She said that she had no idea she was to even participate at the Games.

“I didn’t know I was coming here either,” she said. “I was training, and one day my coach was like ‘Oh! We’re going to Pan Am!’ I missed my son’s second birthday, being here, because I didn’t plan on being here. But God is good and every

opportunity is an opportunity to improve form and get better. So for me, I’m just excited to be here.”

Fraser-Pryce’s final runs off at 4:15 p.m. today.

Yesterday, however, a challenging day for Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton got even more difficult as she had to accept that her silver medal won in the women’s 400m hurdles final was downgraded to bronze.

Clayton, earning her first-ever major senior international medal, ran a time of 55.53 seconds, and had initially been positioned third, but Canada’s Sage Watson, who had crossed the line first, had been initially disqualified, bumping Clayton up to second. However, Watson won her appeal and was given the gold in a season’s best time of 55.16 seconds. It meant USA’s Anna Cockrell, who was moved up to gold with her time of 55.50, fell into second spot, relegating Clayton to the bronze medal. Of the race itself, Clayton,

MARTIN MEJIA Shericka Jackson of Jamaica celebrates winning the gold medal in the women’s 400m final during the athletics competition at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, yesterday.

MARTIN MEJIA Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica wins her women’s 200m semi-final during the athletics competition at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, yesterday.