1 August 2009
Jo Jackson produced an outstanding swim to finish second in the women’s 800m freestyle final at the World Championships in Rome this evening and thereby claim her second individual silver medal of the meeting - and her third in total, following bronze in the team relay.
The 22-year-old, who yesterday described the 800m as “a fun event”, stormed through in the final few metres to overhaul local girl Alessia Filippi, finishing in a time of 8:16.66, more than half a second ahead of the Italian.
Lotte Friis of Denmark won in 8:15.92, but there was enormous disappointment for Rebecca Adlington, the Olympic champion and world record holder over the distance. The Briton dropped out of the top three with 200 metres remaining and could never make any inroads thereafter, finishing outside the medals in fourth place in a time of 8:17.90.
"That definitely was not fun tonight,” said Jackson with reference to her pre-race comment. “In fact, that was the most painful event of the week and I can honestly say that I have never felt so tired after a race. It was so demanding.
“To come away with a silver medal is just amazing though, because it was so unexpected. I'll be doing the 800m a lot more and hopefully I can go quicker each year. I'll be doing it in London 2012 and hopefully pushing for medals in three years’ time."
And what of Adlington, Jackson’s good friend and Team GB colleague, who had been fully expected to add the world crown to her Olympic title?
Jackson added: "You never know what's going to happen. It's anyone's game. Anyone could have got in there and won. Obviously Becky is a bit upset at how she did, but she is still a double Olympic gold medallist and still has the world record. She should be really proud of that and she'll come back fighting tough next year.
"She is always going to be there or thereabouts and she is going to be there next year, and hopefully we can push each other along." |
