World 200-Meter Champion Shericka Jackson Suffers Apparent Injury in Race with Olympics on Horizon

 Shericka Jackson, of Jamaica, reacts to an injury during the women's 200 meter event at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial Track and Field Hungarian Grand Prix in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (Tamas Vasvari/MTI via AP)
Shericka Jackson, of Jamaica, reacts to an injury during the women's 200 meter event at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial Track and Field Hungarian Grand Prix in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (Tamas Vasvari/MTI via AP)
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World 200-Meter Champion Shericka Jackson Suffers Apparent Injury in Race with Olympics on Horizon

 Shericka Jackson, of Jamaica, reacts to an injury during the women's 200 meter event at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial Track and Field Hungarian Grand Prix in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (Tamas Vasvari/MTI via AP)
Shericka Jackson, of Jamaica, reacts to an injury during the women's 200 meter event at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial Track and Field Hungarian Grand Prix in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (Tamas Vasvari/MTI via AP)

World 200-meter champion and Olympic favorite Shericka Jackson pulled up with an apparent injury late in a race Tuesday as part of the Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix.

The Jamaican standout was in front and nearing the finish line when she suddenly shut it down. Jackson appeared to be in discomfort as she walked off the track in a race won by Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia. The Paris Games start later this month.

Jackson has the second-fastest time ever in the event. A message was left by The Associated Press with her agent.

The Jamaicans are already missing Elaine Thompson-Herah for the Paris Games. The two-time reigning Olympic champion at 100 and 200 meters recently said she has a small tear in her Achilles tendon.

Jackson is responsible for three of the four fastest times ever run in the women's 200. Her top time of 21.41 seconds was set on her way to winning gold at worlds last summer in Budapest, Hungary. She's edging closer and closer to breaking the record held by Florence Griffith Joyner, who went 21.34 at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

Jackson, who turns 30 next week, also is expected to give American rival Sha'Carri Richardson a challenge in the 100.



Nadal Returns to Competition With Bastad Doubles Win

Spain's Rafael Nadal (R) and Norway's Casper Ruud were wild card entries in Bastad - AFP
Spain's Rafael Nadal (R) and Norway's Casper Ruud were wild card entries in Bastad - AFP
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Nadal Returns to Competition With Bastad Doubles Win

Spain's Rafael Nadal (R) and Norway's Casper Ruud were wild card entries in Bastad - AFP
Spain's Rafael Nadal (R) and Norway's Casper Ruud were wild card entries in Bastad - AFP

Rafael Nadal returned to competition for the first time since his early French Open exit on Monday teaming up with Casper Ruud for a doubles win in Bastad.

It was Nadal's first match since the 38-year-old fell to Alexander Zverev in the opening round at Roland Garros on May 27 as he prepares for the Paris Olympics, AFP reported.

The Spaniard and Ruud, 25, won 6-1, 6-4 in the rain-interrupted clay-court match against second seeds Guido Andreozzi of Argentina and Miguel Reyes-Varela of Mexico.

Wild card entries Nadal and Ruud, who trained at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, looked at home on the Swedish clay, racing through the first set with two breaks.

Play was suspended at 3-3 in the second due to rain and briefly a second time before Nadal and Ruud, saw out the match in 79 minutes.

"We played quite well for it being the first time that we played together," said Nadal.

"And yeah, happy to be back here after almost 20 years. I have great memories of this place from 2003, 2004, 2005. I am enjoying this week and hopefully we can keep going."

Nadal lifted the singles title in Bastad as a 19-year-old in 2005.

This month he skipped Wimbledon to focus on the Olympics which will be played at Roland Garros where he won 14 French Open titles.

In Paris, Nadal plans to compete in the singles and doubles with Carlos Alcaraz, winner of the Wimbledon tournament on Sunday.

"It was an amazing day for Spanish sport," said Nadal of Alcaraz's win and Spain's Euro 2024 triumph.

"The Spanish team played an amazing Euro Cup since the first day to the last. We are very proud, all the country, about what they did. I was a very happy day yesterday too, with Carlos winning Wimbledon."

The 22-time Grand Slam champion is also playing in the singles where he will take on Leo Borg, the 21-year-old son of the long-retired former world number one Bjorn Borg, now 68.

Ruud added: "He did well and we played good doubles and it was a lot of fun to share the court with Rafa as always.

"I’m used to it more than Rafa, being from Norway," he said of the rain delays before joking about Nadal's age.

"And he's getting old so I’m not sure how the body feels when he has to stop and start all the time."

Borg, currently ranked 467 in the world, lost his doubles match on Monday.