Triumph in Tokyo

TRIUMPH IN TOKYO 2025

DANIELLE WILLIAMS HAS A PLAN Somehow, after winning three World championship medals in the 100m hurdles – including two gold – Danielle “Ants” Williams is one of the greatest high hurdlers who gets talked about the least. Her fastest outing this season was 12.31 seconds in Poland in mid August, Danielle has been polishing her speed over the flat distance, looking crisp in an 11.54 second dash at Kingston Slam and an 11.44 during the Philadelphia Grand Slam Track event on June 1, where she remarked, “I’ve made some technical adjustments this season, trying to get those to be automatic … I’m pleased with how the season has started.” With the Americans Masai Russell, Tia Jones and Grace Stark at the top of World Athletics’ rankings in the event, Williams will have familiar hurdles to clear, including Jamaican teammates Ackera Nugent, the Diamond winner, and a resurgent Megan Tapper, who has lowered her best times. But Danielle is used to not being the event favourite. If her win at Xiamen in April (12.53) is anything to go by – when she won without leading over any of the ten hurdles and only getting the better of Stark with a late rush – then she may have to play dark horse again. “Everyone is running so fast,” she admitted. I’ve tweaked the start and tweaked the finish. We’re just trying to make it automatic in these races now.” Rivals should be careful.

SHERICKA JACKSON IS HAPPY AGAIN

As the fastest living woman over 200m, Shericka Jackson returns to Tokyo, this time seeking a triple crown of three consecutive wins in her pet event. The other two gold medals weren’t exactly easy to come by, but the one she’s seeking inside the Kokuritsu Kyōgijō may be toughest yet. Her injury in Europe last year made her a bit tentative over 200 meters this season, and even though she ran a 10.88 100m to finish second at trials, the MVP megastar has her fans concerned about how she will match up against Olympic silver medallist Julien Alfred (St.Lucia), the same athlete who beat her in that ill fated duel down the stretch last year in Hungary. National champion Ashanti Moore’s 22.31 in Hungary this August places the powerful Jamaican in the mix with yet another time below the world qualifying standard. If she gets any faster, the former Hydel High standout could be a legitimate threat for a medal as well. Apparently, there has been a major recalibration underway in both Shericka’s start and turnover. After picking up a second place finish at the Xiamen Diamond League, she premiered her newfound mechanics in the 100 metres at Rabat on May 25, showing how much faster she can get out of the blocks and how hard she’s now hitting the track surface during acceleration. A 36.13 second run brought her home just behind Alfred over 300m at this year’s Miramar

Classic, and it is left to be seen how Jackson will cope with the side by side pressure from the St. Catherine High alumna if they they meet in Tokyo. The best bookings for the podium in the run up to Tokyo include Alfred as well as the USA’s Brittany Brown and Gabby Thomas. None of them, however, should scoff due to Jackson’s relative inactivity so far this year over the half lap. “This year was a bit challenging …” she reported as she spoke with Anthonique Strachan on YouTube’s “Inside Lane”. “It’s just for me to regroup myself and I’m back. I’m happy and back mentally; I’m okay and that’s good.” Shericka Jackson has run the 200m sparingly so far in 2025, but will go to Tokyo with a fighting chance to win.