Just a year ago, the idea of Melissa Jefferson-Wooden winning the sprint double would have seemed fanciful.
But fast-forward 13 months since the Paris 2024 100m final, where she claimed bronze behind teammate Sha’Carri Richardson and winner Julien Alfred, the U.S. athlete has the chance to become the first woman in 12 years to win the 100m and 200m at a world championships.
The last to do it? The departing legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in 2013.
Simply put, Jefferson-Wooden is a different kind of athlete this year.
She has transformed herself from a medal contender into the greatest female sprinter operating in the world today.
In the semi-finals of the women’s 200m at the World Athletics Championships on Thursday 18 September, the 24-year-old once again showed her prowess by storming into Friday’s final in 22.00 seconds, where few would bet against her claiming victory.
However, it’s unlikely she’ll have everything her own way. In the first heat of the night, world champion Shericka Jackson showed she won’t give up her crown easily, crossing the finishing line in 21.99. While injury saw her forced out of last year’s Olympic Games in Paris, she is back and inching closer to her best at these Worlds. The second automatic qualifier from heat 1 was Britain’s Amy Hunt (22.08), who is starting to live up to her potential after setting an under-18 world best time in 2019.
Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, who shared a heat with Jefferson-Wooden, also looks like she may be a contender for medals this year. Her second place (22.21) gives her a chance at another world title, six years after her victory in Doha in 2019.
The third and final heat saw the USA’s Anavia Battle take first place in a time of 22.09, beating a slowing Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith to the line, although the Ivorian seemed to be in energy-conservation mode over the final metres and will be hoping to save her best for the gold medal race.
With the USA’s Brittany Brown and Bahamas’ Anthonique Strachan also qualifying as best of the rest, it all adds up to a thrilling finale.
Will Jefferson-Wooden continue her meteoric rise? Can Jackson rediscover the form that made her nigh-on unbeatable in recent years? Or will a surprise champion be crowned?
The answer will be revealed this Friday.