Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson has opened up about the mental struggles she went through before making it to the 2025 World Championships where she won bronze.

While some athletes might not have been overly delighted to win a medal that was not gold at the 2025 World Championships, for Jamaican Shericka Jackson, clinching bronze was bigger than anything.

Jackson failed to defend her 200m world title, which she had won back-to-back in 2022 and 2023, as she finished third at the 2025 Worlds that ended in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday, managing a bronze medal in her favourite discipline.

The fastest woman alive over the distance had to contend with third place behind American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who won gold, as Britain’s Amy Hunt claimed the silver medal.

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However, for Jackson, this was a triumph against adversity as it completed a great comeback that she never thought was possible 12 months ago.

This is because she was hampered by an injury last year, which forced her to miss the Paris 2024 Olympics, and she admits that painful experience took its toll on her mentally to the extent that she was left in tears thinking about whether she would ever get back to her best.

“Last year, I was on a flight from Paris to Miami and I cried all flight,” the 31-year-old told Telecomasia.net.

“My mental aspect was really damaged and the fact that I am standing here is a testimony. This year I am healthy, last year is gone. I am here, happy and grateful and even if I didn’t win a medal, just showing up here and competing was great for me,” she added regarding her tough journey.

“I am grateful to be standing on the podium again. When you get hurt, the mental aspect is usually affected a lot because it plays a lot in your mind. This year, I worked on my mental health and I just wanted to put my pieces together. It wasn’t gold but I leave here with a bronze and it is a win for me,” said Jackson.

Jackson, who finished fourth in the 100m final in Tokyo, clocked 22.18 for bronze in the 200m, and she has now received a lot of encouragement which she wants to use as the fuel to fire her to glory next year as she looks to recapture her world title at the 2027 World Championships in Beijing, China.