The two fastest women in the world so far this season Shericka Jackson and Sha’Carri Richardson – meet for the second time this year at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial on Sunday.
It will be their sixth career 100m head-to-head and it comes at the eighth meeting in this season’s Wanda Diamond League in Poland, where athletes will be keen to make a mark with just over a month to go to the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23.
Jackson leads this season’s top list thanks to the PB of 10.65 she recorded when winning at the Jamaican Championships in Kingston a week ago. That mark moved her to equal fifth on the world all-time list – one place ahead of Richardson, who improved to 10.71 in the heats at the US Championships and went on to win the national title in 10.82.
Richardson won the battle the last time the two athletes clashed – running 10.76 to Jackson’s 10.85 at the Doha Diamond League in May – but Jackson leads 3-2 when it comes to their career head-to-head record.
They will be joined by four other athletes who have dipped under 11 seconds so far this season: Bahamas’ Anthonique Strachan, New Zealand’s Oceanian record-holder Zoe Hobbs, Britain’s Daryll Neita, and Jamaica’s Shashalee Forbes, who was second behind Jackson at the national championships, as well as home star Ewa Swoboda.
The Jamaican trio of Ackeem Blake, Kishane Thompson, and Yohan Blake will also be in action in the men’s 100 metres.
Akeem Blake, the fastest Jamaican male this season with an impressive 9.89, could only manage fourth place in 10.01 seconds at the Jamaican Championships. Unfortunately, Akeem Blake’s performance dashed his hopes of representing Jamaica in the men’s 100m event in Budapest.
Thompson won his heat in 9.91 at the Jamaican Championships but was a non-starter for the semifinals while Yohan Blake was disqualified from the heats because of a false start.
They will face Fred Kerley – the world 100m champion – who focused on the 200m at the US Championships and had to settle for fourth place in that final. He’ll be looking to rebound in the shorter event in Silesia, as he goes up against the recently crowned US champion Cravont Charleston.
A thrilling clash is on the cards in the women’s 100m hurdles. The 2019 world champion Nia Ali won the US title ahead of Kendra Harrison, Masai Russell, Alaysha Johnson, and Tia Jones in Eugene, and four of those five – Ali, Harrison, Johnson, and Jones – meet again in Silesia, where they face Nigeria’s world record-holder and world champion Amusan and Jamaica’s Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper, winner of the Jamaican title last weekend.
