Incredible performances over the weekend have heightened excitement levels ahead of the London Athletics Meet, the tenth meeting of the Wanda Diamond League series, on Sunday 23 July.
The trio of athletes already confirmed for the women’s 100m in London – Dina Asher-Smith (GBR), Shericka Jackson (JAM) and Sha’Carri Richardson (USA) – provided a series of stunning results at their respective national championships.
Jackson’s performance at the Jamaican Championships was the pick of the trio. The multiple Olympic medallist and three-time world champion clocked a lifetime best and world-leading 10.65 (+1.0m/s) to win the national title in Kingston (7 July). It was a mark that moved her to equal fifth on the world all-time list and consolidated her position as the third-fastest Jamaican woman in history.
Former NCAA champion Richardson, second-fastest in the world this year going into the weekend, sped to a PB, world lead - at the time - and meeting record-equalling 10.71 (+0.1m/s) in the heats of the US Championships in Eugene (6 July), prior to Jackson’s 10.65. She clocked 10.75 (+0.7m/s) in the semi-final and 10.82 (+0.7m/s) for victory in the final at Hayward Field (7 July). She now holds four of the ten fastest 100m times of the year to date to Jackson’s three.
In extreme weather at the UK Athletics Championships in Manchester, multiple Olympic and world medallist Asher-Smith raced to victory in 11.06 (+0.2m/s) after a 20-minute delay due to rain. The 2019 world 200m champion, the British record holder in the 100m (10.83) and 200m (21.88), was focused on securing her place on the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Budapest, and in spite of unprecedented conditions, she achieved that.
