Jackson banishes Berlin nightmare but cards end hopes

Middlesbrough’s Jackson finished 23rd in the women’s 20km walk in Daegu.

The 26-year-old completed the race in one hour 35.32 seconds in humid conditions in Gukchae-Bosang Memorial Park.

Russia’s Olga Kaniskina was the first of the 50-strong field to cross the line to win gold.

“I found the conditions fine, I kept myself really well cooled and hydrated,” said Jackson, who was disqualified at the World Championships in Berlin two years ago.

“I went into this with a bit of a knee niggle and it’s caused a bit of trouble with my technique, but I wouldn’t use it as an excuse.

“It was nice to get rid of the Berlin memories but I would have liked to have been in with the front group. I kept fighting all the way through, I didn’t give in.”

Since Berlin, Jackson has ironed out her technique – suffering no disqualifications in a sport where they are ten a penny – and claimed her first major title at last year’s Commonwealth Games.

That display in Delhi led to Jackson setting her sights firmly on the top 10 in the heat and 88 percent humidity of Daegu.

However, with her technique altered by her troublesome knee, Jackson once again flirted with her Berlin nightmare by getting one warning away from disqualification.

With that in mind Jackson admitted her immediate feelings post race were those of frustration.

“I ended up picking up two cards which I wouldn’t really expect normally but I felt really strong and had too much left in the tank really.

“About six kilometres in, I could feel my hamstring pulling and I thought, ‘it’s going to go on me here’ so I was a bit cautious.

“And that’s when the lead group kind of got away and it was a bit too much to catch up really. When you get two cards on the board you don’t want to be getting pulled out towards the end of the race especially after the last world champs.

“It was nice to get rid of the memories of Berlin but it would have been nice to have been a bit closer to the front group.

“It’s a bit annoying to have so much in the tank because usually you are on the floor crying after a race like that,” she added. “I’ll work on next season now and making sure I keep myself injury free and in the best shape I can be for London 2012.”

Mo Farah has confirmed he will compete in the 5,000m, which gets underway today, as he looks to add to the silver medal he won over 10,000m on Sunday.

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