The official entry list for the 2025 Jamaican National Trials dropped this week, one name was conspicuously missing. The trials, scheduled for June 26–29 at Kingston’s National Stadium, will determine who dons the famous black, green, and gold at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
While Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson have both confirmed their places on the start line for the 100m, there’s no sign of Elaine Thompson-Herah in either the 100m or 200m sprints. Not even a wildcard. Not even a statement. Just silence, and heartbreak.
Fraser-Pryce and Jackson Return, but the Field Feels Incomplete
The void is particularly painful because both Fraser-Pryce and Jackson are making dramatic comebacks of their own. Fraser-Pryce, now 38, is returning after an injury-plagued 2024 season that saw her miss the Paris Olympics. The 3-time Olympic gold medalist is officially entered in the 100m at Trials, a final dance fans are clinging to.
Shericka Jackson, too, is on the rebound. The defending 200m world champion missed the Paris Games after a late injury derailed a season where she’d set world-leading times.
But she’s wasted no time getting back in form in 2025, clocking a season-best 22.53 seconds at the Racers Grand Prix and picking up a Diamond League win in Rabat. Thanks to her world title, Jackson has an automatic spot in the 200m for Worlds, but she’ll contest the 100m at Trials to chase double glory.
The Elaine Mystery and the Painful Truth
But it’s the absence of Thompson-Herah, the reigning Olympic champion in both the 100m and 200m, that’s shaken fans most. The only woman in history to win both sprints at consecutive Olympic Games isn’t listed for Trials, and the reason is as heartbreaking as it is sobering.
On June 9, 2024, at the New York Grand Prix, Thompson-Herah tore her Achilles tendon mid-race, hobbling to an 11.48 finish before pulling out of Jamaica’s Olympic Trials weeks later. The devastating injury ruled her out of Paris 2024 and sidelined her from the global stage for a year. Achilles surgery demands a careful, year-long rehabilitation process, and for Elaine, 2025 was always going to be about rebuilding.
Complicating matters was a coaching shuffle. In November 2023, Thompson-Herah parted ways with coach Shanikie Osbourne and turned to Reynaldo Walcott, the same man behind Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s resurgence, to help overhaul her mechanics. At 32, with her Achilles held together by scar tissue and rehab protocols, every race now carries more weight.
A Glimmer of Hope
There’s still no official word on whether a wildcard entry to Tokyo could be in play, though the likelihood is slim without Trials participation. Yet for fans, the absence hurts.
“ELAINE NOT IN THE 100 OR 200⁉️ be fr… I’m actually sick, this can’t be how it ends 😭😭😭,” one fan wrote on social media.
Another pleaded, “Somebody say something, is she injured? retired? ghosting us? I just need a reason because I’m spiraling.”
A Legendary Chapter Nears Its End
Even with young talents like Tina and Tia Clayton ready to step up, and with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson leading the charge, the 2025 Jamaican Trials feel incomplete.
The ages’ intended farewell battle now feels like a bittersweet torch passing.
Fans will still fill Kingston’s National Stadium next week, eager to cheer their champions, but the dream of one final, glorious sprint showdown between Jamaica’s sprint queens will have to wait, if it ever comes again.
