It’s nearly June so let’s do a quick check on Jamaica’s top 100m and 200m sprinters.

Prediction:

I know that I may get some criticism later on but I will start off by saying that I believe the Jamaican woman will get at least one medal in the 100m and the 200m at the Paris Olympics. Despite some of the early-season question marks, it’s going to be really hard to keep the Jamaican women off the podium come championship time.

Backstory:

Let’s take a quick history lesson on what Jamaican women have done at the Olympics since 2008, which was the start of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s brilliance and the current wave of Jamaican dominance.

In the 100m

– In 2008, Jamaica swept the podium in the 100m with Fraser-Pryce, Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart.

– In 2012, Fraser-Pryce defended her title and Veronica Campbell-Brown took bronze.

– In 2016, Elaine Thompson-Herah earned gold with Fraser-Pryce finishing third for bronze. – 2021 was another iconic sweep with Thompson-Herah, Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson.

In the 200m

– In 2008, Campbel-Brown won gold. Kerron Stewart earned a bronze.

– In 2012, Fraser-Pryce finished behind Allyson Felix for silver.

– In 2016 and 2021, Thompson-Herah pulled off the golden double in the 100m and 200m.

There’s been consistent dominance.

What is the status of Jamaica’s Big Three?

Reigning 200m world champion Shericka Jackson opened up her season with a 100m race in Jamaica and went 11.03s. This weekend, she ran 22.82s to win the Rabat Diamond League. I think it brought about a few questions because it was slightly slower than she opened up in previous years and it’s a later start than previous years. She previously ran an indoor season in the build-up to the 2022 and 2023 outdoor seasons. She would also run some low-key March or April races in Jamaica. So for her to open up in May, raised a few question marks but she told reporters in Rabat that she would be ready to peak at the right time. On a personal note, I’m not too worried about Jackson and expect her to make the Jamaican team and then get on the podium this summer. She is still a gold medal favorite.

Elaine Thompson-Herah, the reigning double Olympic champion, was reportedly expected to race at the Bermuda Grand Prix in late April but she did not. She is slated to open up her season soon. She is looking to reverse some of her luck from the past two years. In 2022, she dealt with some injuries and then a sponsorship switch from Nike to PUMA. She still managed to medal in the 100m with a bronze. In 2023, she was injured for much of the year but still ran on a relay at the World Championships. She closed out her season with a 10.79 at the Prefontaine Classic. Her biggest change came after Budapest when she announced she would be changing coaches and is now working with coach Reynaldo Walcott. When we last checked in with her in March, she said she was healthy. If she can pick up where she left off at the end of 2023, she’ll likely make the Jamaican team. Health is the key factor for her.

Two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is the most experienced of all sprinters in the world. At 37 years old, she has already announced this will be her final Olympics. She has yet to open up her 2024 season and that’s not as much of a worry considering she didn’t start her 2023 season until early July and she came away from the World Championships with a bronze medal in the 100m with a 10.77s performance. It would be a good sign of things if she opens up in early June ahead of the Jamaican championships and runs in the 10.90s because she’ll have plenty of time to get ready for Paris.

Who else would be in the conversation?

There’s a bit of a dropoff after The Big Three. Brianna Lyston, the 19-year-old NCAA 60m champion competing for LSU, may be the next-best and she’s only run 10.91s. Others to consider would be Kemba Nelson (10.88s PB), Natasha Morrison (10.85s PB), Alana Reid (10.92s PB) and Briana Williams (10.94s PB). There’s a strong talent pool but no major medal threats yet. They may still be a few years away to get to the level of Fraser-Pryce, Jackson and Thompson-Herah as fixures on the podium.

It would be a tall order for someone like Lyston to run through the NCAA championship season, make the Jamaican team and then assume she’ll come away with hardware in her first Games.

For more, listen to The Final Leg on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.