Grace Jackson (born Juny 14, 1961) is a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n former

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

who competed mainly in the

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standard SI prefix for a hundred is " hecto-". 100 is the b ...

and

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

. She won an Olympic silver medal in the 200 metres at the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were repres ...

, and is a former Jamaican record-holder in the 200m and 400m. She was Jamaican Sportswoman of the Year in 1986 and 1988.

Career

Born in St. Ann,

West Indies Federation The West Indies Federation, also known as the West Indies, the Federation of the West Indies or the West Indian Federation, was a short-lived political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the Caribbean th ...

, Jackson reached the 100m and 200m finals in the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

, finishing fifth in both. A year later, she won the 200m title at the 1985 Universiade and finished second in the 100m and 200m at the

1985 IAAF World Cup The 4th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on October 4–6, 1985, at the Bruce Stadium in Canberra, Australia Austr ...

. She won a bronze medal in the 200m at the

1987 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 1st IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held in Indianapolis, United States from March 6 to March 8, 1987. The championship had previously been known as the World Indoor Games, which were held once before changing the name. Bein ...

behind Heike Drechsler and

Merlene Ottey Merlene Joyce Ottey (born 10 May 1960) is a Jamaican-Slovenian former track and field sprint (running), sprinter. She began her career representing Jamaica in 1978 and continued to do so for 24 years before representing Slovenia from 2002 to 20 ...

. The highlight of her career was at the

, where she won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the 200m behind

Florence Griffith-Joyner Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner (born Florence Delorez Griffith; December 21, 1959 – September 21, 1998), also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete and the fastest woman ever recorded. She was married to Al Joyner, a 198 ...

's still-standing world record of 21.34. Jackson ran a Jamaican record time of 21.72 seconds that was .01 seconds short of the pre-Olympic world record Griffith-Joyner broke. In the process, she finished ahead of then-200m World Champion Silke Moller (5th), Heike Drechsler (3rd) and teammate

(4th). Ottey would regain the Jamaican record in 1990. She won a silver medal in the 200m at the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships behind Ottey. Later that year she broke the Jamaican 400m record with a time of 49.57 seconds, which would stand as the national record for 13 years. In November 1990, she married Hugh Small. Jackson concluded her international career by finishing sixth in the 200m final at the

1992 Barcelona Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

Achievements

Personal Bests: *100 metres – 11.08sec (1988) – also ran 10.97 wind-assisted (+3.0) in 1988 *200 metres – 21.72sec (1988) – stood as Jamaican Record from 1988 to 1990 *400 metres – 49.57sec (1988) – stood as Jamaican Record from 1989 to 2002 * Jamaican Sportswoman of the Year in 1986 and 1988

References

External links

* * 1961 births Living people Jamaican female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Jamaica Olympic silver medalists for Jamaica Sportspeople from Saint Ann Parish Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Competitors at the 1978 Central American and Caribbean Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Jamaica Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics FISU World University Games gold medalists for Jamaica FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Jamaica World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Medalists at the 1983 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics Olympic female sprinters 20th-century Jamaican sportswomen 21st-century Jamaican women Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Jamaican Athletics Championships winners Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics {{Jamaica-Olympic-medalist-stub