Almost a year ago, Shericka Jackson stunned the athletics world when she won the gold medal at the World Athletics Championships on the evening of 25 August by running the second-fastest 200 metres ever in a time of 21.41 seconds, just seven hundredths of a second behind Florence Griffith-Joyner’s amazing and suspiciuos world record of 21.34 in Seoul in 1988.

The Jamaican star crowned herself on the banks of the Danube at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest with one of the most astonishing performances of the 21st century, threatening to break the world record held by the late ‘Flo Jo’ in her bid for Olympic gold in the half lap race.

Jackson also won silver in the 100m in Hungary (10.72), just ahead of USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson (10.65), and in the 4x100m relay with Jaimaca after a great final leg in which she couldn’t beat Sha’Carri by 18 hundredths (41.21 to 41.03).

With a bronze medal in the 400m at Rio 2016 (she started as a lap runner) and the 100m at Tokyo, the Saint Ann-born athlete has never won an individual Olympic medal (she is the current 4x100m champion) and everything seemed to be in place for her in Paris.

However, she showed up for Tuesday’s 200m race at the Gyulai István Memorial in Szakesfehervar, Hungary (just 65km from Budapest), with a brace on her left knee, causing concern just three weeks and three days before the start of the athletics competition at the Stade de France. It was her first race since winning both the 100 and 200 metres at the Jamaica Trials.

Jackson started the first 50 metres patiently, then made a great curve to lead the race despite the presence of Julien Alfred, before abruptly slowing down, grimacing and putting her head in her hands as she finally crossed the line in 36.21 to her Santa Lucia rival’s 22.16.

Her compatriot Elaine Thompson-Herah, who won the 100m and 200m gold medals at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 respectively, has already been ruled out of the Paris Games after failing to recover from an Achilles tendon injury. Therefore, another injury would be devastating for the Jamaican 4×100 relay team.

Is Shericka Jackson’s participation in the Olympic Games really in jeopardy? More information should be available in the coming days, but Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (reigning Olympic 100m hurdles champion) has had a similar experience after pulling out of the Paavo Nurmi Games on 18 June, only to win the Paris Diamond League two weeks later and on Tuesday in Szakesfehervar… Let’s wait and see!