Jackson into Youth Olympic 400 final
CARIFTA and National Junior Under-17 champion Shericka Jackson, eager to stamp her class on the world stage, ran 24.24 seconds to place second in heat two of the 200 metres at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore yesterday.
Sixteen-year-old Jackson of Vere Technical stayed on the heels of 17-year-old US Youth Olympic Trial champion Olivia Ekpone, who won the heat in 24.05 seconds. Jackson timed 24.24 and Bulgarian Karin Okolie placed third in a personal best 24.39 seconds.
Nigerian Nkiru Nwakira took heat one in 23.96 seconds and Bahamian Tynia Gaither, the Carifta Games silver medallist, captured heat three in 24.16.
Jamaica’s Carifta Games silver medallist and high school champion Rochelle Farquharson, a 17-year-old from St Elizabeth Technical, leaped 12.40 metres to place fourth in the qualification round of the triple jump.
Sweden’s 16-year-old Khaddi Sagnia, the European Youth Olympic Trial champion, topped the group with 13.21 metres, beating France’s national junior champion Sokhna Galle, 12.92, and Ukraine’s Hanna Aleksandrova, 12.49.
Athletics will take a break today for culture and education and will resume tomorrow with the beginning of the three-day finals.
Also yesterday, Jamaica’s Brian Forte swam in heat two of the 100m freestyle to finish third in 55.62 seconds. Aruba’s Jonathan Ponson won the heat in 54.14.
Venezuelan Cristian Quintero won heat one in 50.82, while Mongolia’s Ulziibadrakh Gantulga was way behind in second place with 59.35.
Turkey’s Bertug Coskun (52.48sec), Croatian Ivan Levaj (51.23sec), Germany’s Kevin Leithold (51.01sec), Australian Kenneth To (50.67sec) and Serbia’s Velimir Stjepanovic (51.16sec) were the other heat winners in the 100m freestyle.
In Saturday’s finals in athletics, eight Jamaicans will be in action: Sasha Gaye Marston (girls discus B final), Megan Simmonds (girls 100 hurdles A final), Lennox Willliams (boys 400m C final), Federic Dacres (boys discus B final), Janieve Russell (girls long jump A final), Stefan Fennell (boys 110 hurdles A final), Olivia James (girls 400m A final), and Odane Skeen (boys 100m A final).
