Shericka Jackson exploded out of the blocks, anchoring Jamaica’s 4×100 m squad in the women’s relay at the London Diamond League. Running the vital opening leg, she punched the track with relentless power, seamlessly passing to Jonielle Smith. Tina Clayton maintained the momentum, barreling around the turn before Briana Williams blazed home in the anchor. The Jamaican quartet clocked a strong 42.50s—impressive, yet well behind Great Britain’s dominant 41.69 world-leading performance. Looking to see that race?

“Had so much Healthy fun at London Diamond League. Ran lead off leg🙂🙂🙂🙃🙃🙃. My favorite part of the trip was seeing my Goddaughter. I miss her so much 🤍🤍🤍🫂🫂🫂,” Jackson captioned her Instagram post she made after the race on July 2o. In the post, she shared a few of her snapshots, a couple of cards from her goddaughter, and some clips where the two could be seen having fun. But that caught the attention of the world and launched a feud between her and a track and field journalist. Owen’s was the first video in the post; her entire race.

When you enter the comment section of the post, you will see a comment from the prominent track and field journalist, Owens. He had dropped a comment saying, “Nice to see that you’ve used my video (slide 1) in your London Diamond League recap. It was a lot of fun watching you race in person ☺️🙌.” The invention behind the comment? That is a truth only Owens can answer.  While the latter part of his comment does pass him off as a wholesome person who is justly proud of his video being used by an Olympic gold medalist.

But the flip side of the coin can also be that he is just being sarcastic and wants attribution for his video being used. And perhaps Shericka Jackson took the second meaning as she cleared herself of not knowing that the video belonged to him, and she even questioned that if the video belonged to him. Replying to Owen’s comment, she wrote, “I never got this video from your page. Neither did the page gave you credit. So I’m totally not sure if it’s actually your video.” 

The response was clear, direct, and slightly confrontational. The comment quite literally resonates the tone that she didn’t get this from him, and no one credited him—so stop acting like it’s his unless he can prove it. Owens also wrote on X, “Nice to see that Shericka Jackson 🇯🇲 has used my video in her London Diamond League recap.” He also posted a screenshot of her reply to him on the social media platform and dropped, “??????” alongside.

Now, by this time, fans had also started to take notice of whatever was happening. The track and field community that was harsh on Shericka in June took a neutral stance. As one user pointed out, “Bruhh the comment was made on instagram you brought it to twitter/X.” The move turned a quiet dispute into viral content, transforming Jackson’s post-race reflection into the centerpiece of an unnecessary drama. Owens’ understanding of what could unfold decided to cool things down.

Owens cleared the air over Shericka Jackson’s controversy

“Hey everyone, I just wanted to explain my comment under Shericka’s IG post.” This is how another tweet by the track and field journalist began, which he posted today, a few hours ago. Owen explained that he was genuinely excited to see Shericka run in person and thrilled that his video made it onto her main Instagram feed. He had filmed both relays during the London Diamond League before they aired on TV, knowing many fans were eager to see them. He noted, “I’ve seen a few people say that my comment came off as passive aggressive – that was certainly never my intention. That’s simply how I talk, but I appreciate that with messages it can sometimes come across differently as people aren’t as aware of tones, etc.”

Following a strong relay performance, the intensity of the exchange didn’t sit right with many fans. One supporter put it plainly: “It’s not that serious, just a video 😥.” For those there to appreciate Jackson’s athletic talent, the heated reaction to a highlight clip seemed out of proportion. Owens further wrote that Anyone who knows him knows that he has so much respect for not only Shericka but Jamaican athletics as a whole.

“In fact, I probably tweet and talk about Jamaican athletes the most. I have a lot of love for Jamaica and the contribution they’ve made towards track and field,” read the tweet. On his Instagram page, the journalist has pinned a screenshot of a notification that informs him of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce following him now. Goes on to tell that the man has a love for Jamaican athletes. With all that context in mind, Owen said he was understandably confused by the reaction to his comment.

Ultimately, he felt it wasn’t a serious issue, which is why he chose not to dwell on it and concluded that it was just miscommunication. He ended it with, “It’s time to move on and get excited for what should be a busy couple of weeks with various National Championships taking place. I hope you all have a great week 🤍”