Shericka Jackson’s road back to the top has been anything but straightforward. Once considered one of the dominant forces in the women’s 200m, the Jamaican saw her Olympic ambitions unravel in 2024 after an injury forced her out of both individual events at the Paris Games. What followed was a difficult period of recovery, self-doubt, and rebuilding.
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She began to look like herself again in 2026. Jackson opened her Diamond League campaign with a 22.07-second victory in Shanghai before going even faster in Xiamen, where she clocked 21.87 seconds to win the 200m and set a meeting record. But just as her season appeared to be gathering momentum, another setback arrived.
Jackson returned to the Lausanne Diamond League on August 21 for the women’s 200m, only to pull up during the race with an apparent hamstring injury. She was expected to return at Silesia, but never made it to the starting line. Now, with the World Athletics Ultimate Championships just days away, Jackson has decided to bring her 2026 season to an early end.
“Just when I’m finally finding my rhythm again, here come mid 2026 season messing with my mental health,” she opened up about the decision in an emotional Instagram post.
This is not how she wanted her campaign to end, but she also acknowledged that she still has “a little faith and hope.”
The injury looked serious from the moment Jackson pulled up. She had come through the bend in second place and appeared to be building momentum before suddenly stopping and collapsing onto the track. Jackson remained down for some time, covering her face with her hands as medical personnel attended to her. She was eventually helped from the track in a wheelchair, turning what had been her long-awaited return to competition into another painful setback.
The Jamaican was taken to the Hospital of Morges that evening, where she underwent an MRI the following morning. Reports subsequently described the problem as a thigh muscle injury, although the initial concern had been a hamstring issue. Jackson was then set to return to Jamaica for treatment, and she has not raced since Lausanne.
Jackson’s decision has also come during an especially difficult period following the death of her longtime coach, Stephen “Franno” Francis. Francis died on July 4 at the age of 64, one day after his birthday, after being hospitalized with an undisclosed illness. His death marked the loss of one of Jamaica’s most influential sprint coaches. As the co-founder and technical director of MVP Track & Field Club, Francis helped develop some of the country’s biggest stars, including Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Asafa Powell and SherickaJackson.
For Jackson, however, Francis was more than just another name in a legendary coaching stable. He played a central role in her transformation from a 400m specialist into one of the world’s leading sprinters, guiding her to back-to-back World Championship titles in the 200m in 2022 and 2023. Under Francis, Jackson ran 21.41 seconds in 2023, becoming the second-fastest woman ever over the distance.
Speaking just days before the Lausanne Diamond League, Jackson said Francis would “forever be in my heart,” a glimpse of the personal loss she was carrying even as she prepared to return to competition.
Shericka Jackson has had to fight her way back
Jackson’s difficult road back did not end with her return to competition. After missing the individual events at the Paris Olympics, she spent much of the following year trying to rebuild both physically and mentally. She later revealed that the disappointment had taken a significant toll, admitting that she cried throughout a flight from Paris to Miami and that her “mental aspect was really damaged” by the experience.
Her 2025 season was therefore less about chasing the dominant form that had produced her 21.41-second run in 2023 and more about finding her footing again. Jackson gradually worked her way back into competition and eventually made Jamaica’s World Championships team. In Tokyo, she finished fourth in the 100m before taking bronze in the 200m in 22.18 seconds.
Even then, Jackson was open about how difficult the process had been. Ahead of the Jamaican Trials, she described her training as a “roller coaster” and acknowledged that she had sometimes been mentally exhausted. She also sought help from a therapist and recognised the need to give herself time to recover mentally.
That makes her start to the 2026 season all the more significant. Jackson was finally showing signs of the athlete she had been before the injuries and setbacks, winning the 200m in Shanghai and then running 21.87 seconds in Xiamen. For a sprinter who had spent so long trying to regain her rhythm, the early results offered genuine reason for optimism.
Jackson’s 2026 season may be over, but her latest message suggests she is already looking toward what comes next.
“Until next season I guess,” she wrote.
She has left the door open for a return after another difficult chapter in her career. For now, the Jamaican will have time to recover from the latest setback before deciding what her next season will look like.