Paris Olympics: Jamaica staring at massively reduced medal count as hopes disappear without hitting the track

Shericka Jackson

Paris Olympics: Jamaica staring at massively reduced medal count as hopes disappear without hitting the track

Joel Omotto 07:13 - 05.08.2024

Jamaica is having Olympics Games to forget after three star athletes pulled out of the without even competing, leaving their hopes in tatters.

Heading into 2024, Jamaica fans were looking forward to at least three gold medals from their female sprinters at the Paris Olympics but one week after the Games, those hopes are gone.

Worse still, those hopes disappeared without the sprinters taking to the track. It started with defending 100m and 200m champion Elaine Thompson-Herah pulling out of the Olympics due to an injury in June.

Thompson-Herah had been nursing an Achilles injury for most of the year and as the Jamaican Olympics trials approached, she announced the news many did not want to receive.

It meant Jamaica were robbed of one of their most experienced runners with Thompson-Herah having won back-t-back Olympic gold medals in both 100m and 200m.

Still, the disappointment was not felt as much since Shericka Jackson, the world 200m champion, and eight-time Olympic medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce made it to Paris and would provide the much-needed experience for the likes of Shashalee Forbes and Tian Clayton.

But even before track and field events began, Jackson dropped the next bombshell, pulling out of 100m to focus on 200m as a way on managing her muscle injury.

It left Forbes, Clayton and Fraser-Pryce to square it out in the 100m and after starting well, the later pulled out of the semi-final for unspecified reasons.

Fraser-Pryce was a no-show in the semi-final, leading to speculation on what could have happened and of the two remaining, Clayton made it to the final but could only finish seventh, as gold went to St Lucian Julien Alfred while Americans Sha’Carri Richardson and Melissa Jefferson claimed silver and bronze in that order.

On Sunday, Jackson was set to hit the track for her specialist 200m but another shocker arrived for Jamaican fans when it was confirmed that she would not be featuring in the heats due to the niggling injury.

Jamaica has been relying on their three star female athletes for medals at recent events but that will not be the case in Paris.

After winning four gold in Tokyo, where three were inspired by the experienced sprint trio, their tally is likely to reduce this time, having come into the Games with hopes of bettering that performance.