Jackson said on Wednesday she will run in her better race, the 200 metres, where she is the only woman other than the world-record holder, the late Florence Griffith Joyner, to finish in under 21.5 seconds.

The Olympic track meet  starts on Friday, highlighted by the opening round for the women’s 100, where Jackson had been listed as the second favourite behind world champion Sha’Carri Richardson.

Jackson’s announcement does come in the wake of her pulling up with an apparent injury late in a race in Hungary three weeks ago.

The Jamaican was leading the race entering the home straight before abruptly slowing down, grimacing and putting her head in her hands as she eventually walked across the finish line.

“It was a combination of things,” Jackson said. “I got hurt, and me and my coach felt like it was a good decision to only run one event.”

Jackson won national titles at both distances earlier this year and was expected to be part of a typically strong pool of Jamaican sprinters.

Now, she joins another Jamaican, two-time defending champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, on the sidelines. Another Jamaican, 37-year-old Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, is in the mix in her fifth and final Olympics; Fraser-Pryce won the 100 in 2008 and 2012.

Earlier this week, Jackson’s coach, Stephen Francis, told the Jamaica Gleaner website that Jackson “appears OK to me”.

Jackson, however, described the decision to pull out as coming from both herself and Francis.

“It was a combination of so much stuff that I personally don’t want to talk about,” she said. “Sometimes, you have to go through a rocky road to get where you’re trying to go. And my rocky road has happened to me.”

The 30-year-old took bronze in the 100 at Tokyo and won a silver medal behind Fraser-Pryce at the world championships in 2022. She has won the last two world titles at 200 meters.

Last year’s win came in a time of 21.41 seconds. It was only .07 seconds off Flo-Jo’s 36-year-old world record and after that win, the discussion turned to when, not if, Jackson or a rival – possibly American Gabby Thomas – would break that hallowed mark.

While Thomas has the three best times of 2024, headed by a 21.78, Jackson’s best time this year is 22.29, with which she won Jamaica’s national title in June. She insists she is ready for the 200, which starts with qualifying Sunday.

“I always felt good. I felt good about both the 100 and the 200,” she said. “I’m definitely healthy, and I’m definitely OK.”

At the last Olympics, Jackson misjudged the field in an opening-round race of the 200, decelerated too quickly and ended up finishing fourth and not advancing for a shot at the title.

She had called it a devastating moment, though on Wednesday she said that despite what happened, being at the Olympics was still a great experience. She went on to team with Fraser-Pryce, Thompson-Herah and Briana Williams to add gold in the 4×100 metre relay to her 100-meter bronze.

Round one of the women’s 100-metre at the Paris Olympics is scheduled for Friday at the Stade de France.

The semifinals and final are programmed for Saturday.

The opening round for the 200m is due on Sunday, with the semifinals a day later and the final on Tuesday.

(BBC)