Legendary Jamaican sprinters Fraser-Pryce, Jackson withdraw from key events at Paris Olympics

Last week, Jackson announced that she was withdrawing from the 100m in Paris to “protect my body.” This came as Jackson’s health was in question after pulling up in a July race in Hungary. Jackson declared that she wanted to focus solely on the 200m, which began Sunday with preliminary heats.

But as Sunday’s competition launched, so did another big-ticket news item: Jackson was pulling out of the 200m, too. No immediate reason was given. Jackson’s absence in the 200m provides a significant boost to American Gabby Thomas, who took 200m bronze in Tokyo and entered these Olympics as the 2024 world leader with a time of 21.78 seconds.

The absences of Thompson-Herah, Fraser-Pryce and Jackson means that none of those three will compete in any individual events in Paris. But Fraser-Pryce and Jackson are still both eligible to compete in the women’s 4x100m relay, which begins on Thursday at 5:10 a.m. ET.