Shericka Jackson's late blossoming into a 100/200 metres star can come into full bloom in Budapest should she dethrone her legendary fellow Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and deny her equalling pole vaulter Sergey Bubka's record of six golds in one event.Jackson, at 29 seven years Fraser-Pryce's junior, says she is in the "best shape of her life" to achieve her goal of a sprint double and become only the fourth female sprinter of all time in doing so.
The defending 200m champion concedes that with the likes of Fraser-Pryce and American champion Sha'Carri Richardson the 100m field is "one of the greatest".
However, undaunted by that, she is optimistic of following Silka Gladisch (1987), Katrin Krabbe (1991) and Fraser-Pryce (2013) in becoming queen of the sprints.
"Once I put together what I have been doing in training then anything is possible," she said, with the opening round of the 100m to be held Sunday and the semifinals and final 24 hours later.
Jackson has constantly improved since she switched to the shorter sprints in 2021 from 400m – which yielded three bronze medals (2016 Olympics, 2015/19 world).
She took Olympic bronze in the 100m in Tokyo and last year silver behind Fraser-Pryce in the world final.
She claims that her form – she won both sprint titles at the national trials – is due to her being happy after struggling with her mental health at times.
"My happiness in my life is what is shaping me," she said.
"I like to be in my zone and I like to stay low-key. I know what it feels like to be at the bottom and what it takes to be at the top."
'A HARD WORKER'
Fraser-Pryce, though, will not surrender her crown lightly and having begun her season late due to a knee injury has put together three successive victories over the distance.
However, while acting as confidence boosters they were in minor meetings and she will need to dig deep to get the better of Jackson even if her overall record with her compatriot reads 8-1.
Richardson arrives on the back of being crowned American champion and with a point to prove after controversially missing out on the Tokyo Olympics.
The 23-year-old was barred after testing positive for marijuana and failed to qualify for last year's worlds.
She had been in sublime form but a sore hamstring preventing her from running in the London Diamond League meeting may be a cause for concern.
Fraser-Pryce is not the only veteran in with a chance of taking gold as Ivory Coast's evergreen Marie-Josee Ta Lou is confident she is in the form to do so.
The 34-year-old has been knocking on the door for several years – silver behind the late Tori Bowie in 2017 and third to Fraser-Pryce in 2019.
Ta Lou has been in unstoppable form winning 10 from 10 this season and if she carries that through to the championships she could become Africa's first 100m female world champion.
She would also be the first non-Jamaican/USA champion since Ukraine's Zhanna Pintusevich-Block in 2003.
"I'm really going for the gold and I believe that I can do it," said Ta Lou.
"I know my finish is strong, but my start could be better. I need to improve it to make sure I can achieve my goal of winning gold."
It may be Ta Lou's last shot at the title but it will be the first for the talented St Lucia sprinter Julien Alfred.
The 22-year-old, Commonwealth Games silver medallist behind two-time Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, strung together 10 successive victories including beating Richardson at a meeting in Hungary in July.
"I didn't just get here just like that," Alfred told Olympics.com.
"It took a lot of hard work and perseverance. I gave up many times. Injury-wise, I wanted to give up and go home and just quit.
"I am a hard worker. That's why I'm here today."
