Shericka Jackson and the race to break Flo-Jo’s 200m world record

It’s been 35 years since Florence Griffith-Joyner (also known as Flo-Jo) set the 200m world record of 21.34 in the final of the Seoul 1988 Olympics.

Since then, the record has become a symbol of something unbeatable as the world’s best women sprinters have tried and failed to surpass it.

However, in the last two years, one woman has come closer than anyone to besting Flo-Jo’s legendary mark - becoming the fastest 200m runner alive in the process.

Her name? Shericka Jackson.

Shericka Jackson’s quest to become the 200m G.O.A.T.

Jackson’s rise in the 200m has been nothing short of remarkable. Originally a 400m specialist, the Jamaican’s descent into the sprints paid dividends early as she won Olympic 100m bronze and 4x100m relay gold at Tokyo 2020.

But it is in the 200m that the 29-year-old has really excelled and her performances at the last two World Athletics Championships have been nothing short of remarkable.

Competing in the final in Oregon in 2022, Jackson stormed out of the blocks to take gold in a time of 21.45 - at the time a Championship and national record.

Her run made her the fastest woman over the distance since that legendary Flo-Jo’s world record from the Republic of Korea Games.

However, the best was yet to come for Jackson, who entered the 200m final at this year’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest bruised by a 100m defeat to the USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson.

Would the Jamaican get her revenge in the half-lap showdown? Would Richardson prove herself to be the dominant sprinter at the Championships?

Jackson’s answer was emphatic.

In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it final in the capital of Hungary, Jackson left the rest of the field in her wake as she stormed home in 21.41 seconds.

Once again she was a world gold medallist as she improved her personal best to within 0.07 seconds of the fastest-ever time.

Jackson hints that world record time is in her future

Before competing in Budapest, Jackson had been coy about her chances of breaking the world record, telling Olympics.com: “I don’t think I’m one of those athletes who puts the record in the front of my head.”

However, when she was asked after the race whether she was disappointed not to have broken the world record, her answer was telling.

“Honestly, when I crossed the line and I saw the time, I was like, ‘argh, I’m close, I’m close’ but I wrote two times on my bib today and the slowest I wrote was 21.40. I got 21.41,” she said.

Later she was asked what the other - faster - time she wrote was.

“You’ll see,” she responded, hinting cryptically that the mark would materialise in the future.

Perhaps the most scary prospect for anyone hoping she doesn't beat Flo-Jo's record was the fact that she had not been feeling well when she raced in Budapest.

“I was super exhausted, I wasn’t feeling 100 per cent as I was under the weather. So it’s not a disappointing look that I didn’t get the world record,” she revealed at the time.

But her mood changed to a more bullish tone just a week later when she raced in the Zurich Diamond League, as she pointed out she still has the chance to break the world record this season.

"It's give and take, you have to prepare, it's a sprint and you need the wind," she said, referring to the fact that her time in Budapest had been set with almost zero wind assistance. "Unfortunately I didn't get it on that day but I have three more 200s this season, so definitely."

In Zurich, Jackson ran 21.82 - her joint eighth-fastest time ever - despite once again feeling ill on the day of competition. She now has two more chances to set the world record this year, with the first coming at the Brussels Diamond League meet that takes place on 7 and 8 September and the last in the Diamond League finals on 16-17 September.

After that, it’s all eyes on next year and the 200m showdown at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Florence Griffith-Joyner and Shericka Jackson's top 10 times

Shericka Jackson vs Flo-Jo: The stats

While Flo-Jo held the top two 200m times until August 2021, when another Jamaican legend Elaine Thompson-Herah took 0.03 seconds off the American’s second-fastest time, it is now Jackson who dominates the speed charts over the half-lap distance.

Three of the top five times in history belong to the Jamaican, as she occupies 2nd, 3rd and 5th on the all-time list.

With Thompson-Herah now sitting in fourth position, Griffith-Joyner’s times see her in 1st and 6th position in the table before a drop to 29th position with her third-fastest time of 21.76.

By contrast, Jackson now holds five times under the third-fastest of Flo-Jo - all of them coming in 2022 and 2023.

Of the other runners in the top 10, only the USA’s Gabrielle Thomas is operating at a level that’s even close to Jackson today.

The American’s best times of 21.60 and 21.61, set in 2023 and 2021 respectively, put her seventh and eighth on the all-time list.

At 26 years old, Thomas is three years younger than Jackson who will turn 30 just 10 years before the start of Paris 2024.

It remains to be seen whether she can reach the heights of her two-time world champion rival or whether Jackson can shave the hundredths of seconds required to beat Flo-Jo’s world record over the coming months or years.

One thing is for certain, the 35-year-old mark that people said was impossible to beat is looking a lot more vulnerable today.