EUGENE, Oregon, CMC – Two-time women’s world 200 metres champion Shericka Jackson will head the list of Caribbean athletes looking to make a strong finish to the season when the World Athletics Diamond League gets ready to crown its champions today and tomorrow at the Prefontaine Classic in the United States.
Jackson is among the world’s best athletes heading to Hayward Field in the American city of Eugene looking to end their seasons on a high, but the athletes who missed out on top honours at the World Championships last month in Budapest will also have much to prove.
The 29-year-old Jamaican sprinter has set her sights on breaking the women’s world 200m record of 21.34 seconds set by American Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988, and the Diamond League Finals is the final big stage opportunity this year for her to try to do it.
Jackson clocked 21.41 secs to retain her title at the World Championships last month in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, and she will have fond memories of this venue after she ran 21.45 to win her first world title last year.
She also ran 21.48 at the Diamond League meet last week in Brussels, and she is edging closer and now has three of the four fastest times in the women’s 200, but she will be hoping she has enough in the tank to enable her to achieve the record with her down to ace in the women’s 100 at this meet.
Jackson will line up against a field that includes multiple global medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast, Daryll Neita of Great Britain, Jenna Prandini of the United States, and Anthonique Strachan of The Bahamas, but her real rival will be the clock and history.
Danielle Williams, another two-time world champion, will be hoping that she can also become a double Diamond League Finals winner in the women’s 100 hurdles. The 31-year-old Jamaican claimed her second world title in Budapest eight years after her first, and she will aim to regain the Diamond League title after her first victory four years ago.
All three world medallists feature in another strong field, with Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico and Kendra Harrison of the United States targeting their first Diamond League trophy along with American Nia Ali and Nigerian Tobi Amusan.
Olympic champion Hansle Parchment of Jamaican will face world champion Grant Holloway of the United States in another stirring duel in the hunt for his second Diamond League Finals trophy.
Parchment, 33, won the race at the Diamond League meet in Xiamen after Holloway hit the last hurdle, but he will be hoping to gather up himself and achieve what he failed to do at the World Championships.
Holloway with Diamond League wins in Florence, Paris, and London, as well as the world title, remains the favourite, and the two champions will be pushed by a field that includes American Daniel Roberts, who joined them on the podium last month in Budapest.
World bronze medallist Sada Williams of Barbados will look to pose a stiff challenge to the two women that finished ahead of her in the Hungarian capital in the women’s 400. World champion Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic lived up to expectation to win the one-lap title in Budapest and now she goes into the Diamond League Finals as favourite to retain the trophy she claimed for the first time last year in Zurich.
World silver medallist Natalia Kaczmarek will also hope to spring a surprise, after she beat her at the Diamond League meet in Silesia following the global showpiece.
The Jamaica pair of Rushell Clayton and Janieve Russell are expected to put up a challenge against world champion Femke Bol of the Netherlands in the women’s 400 hurdles.
Clayton, 30, claimed her first win of the season two weeks ago in Xiamen after taking bronze for a second time at Worlds, but she and the rest of the field that includes world silver medallist Shamier Little of the United States will have their work cut out with Bol winning five times on the circuit this season.
Tajay Gayle will be looking to build on his world bronze medal and leap to his first Diamond League title in the men’s long jump.
The 27-year-old Jamaican will be looking to wrap up his comeback after injury with a win, but Simon Ehammer of Switzerland is one of jumpers standing in his way, with only five centimetres splitting the pair on season’s bests.
Natoya Goule-Toppin of Jamaica is also expected to put up a challenge in the women’s 800, where the thrilling opportunity of an unexpected rematch between global medallists Mary Moraa, Keely Hodgkinson, and Athing Mu will take centre stage.
