22.35 seconds.
For Shawnti Jackson, the number once represented how fast she could go. More than two years later, it represented something entirely different.
At the Pan American U20 Championships in August 2023, Jackson took home gold in the 200-meter event with a time of 22.35 seconds. In April 2026, she lined up for her first 200-meter race since claiming that title and finished second with the same time of 22.35 seconds. The stopwatch suggested Jackson had returned exactly where she’d left off, but the more than two years between those races told a different story.
Between those identical performances came several injuries and a mental battle that pushed Jackson to question whether she wanted to run at all. During an appearance on LSU’s The Real Deal podcast, Jackson said the injuries “took a toll” on her as she adjusted to being sidelined from the sport that had shaped much of her life.
“Having track being taken away from me was really hard,” Jackson said.
After collecting five national records and winning two national titles at a young age, success was something which Jackson knew extremely well. She entered college as one of the world’s best young sprinters. What became unfamiliar was her identity outside of track.
The relationship with the sport was tested during Jackson’s freshman season at Arkansas. Her knee pain progressed to the point that she described competing at nationals with a “dead leg.” She worked her way back for her sophomore season, only to discover damaged cartilage in her other knee, eventually leading to a stress fracture. She was still producing results on the track, but internally, her relationship with the sport was deteriorating.
“Track is 90% mental,” Jackson said. The repeated physical setbacks eventually became just as difficult mentally as it was physically.
“I honestly gave up on track,” Jackson described as she reminisced about a point when the results no longer mattered. “I don’t even want to do this anymore. I really did not care.”
But, some potential is just too good to go to waste. Even when Jackson struggled to believe in herself, she had people around her who continued to. At the center of that support system was her family.
“My family is my support team. They are my everything, they are my track career,” Jackson said. “They all play a part in my success.”
That support became even more important as Jackson searched for a new beginning. Her return to the sport was now in a purple and gold jersey. Her arrival at LSU allowed her to rebuild the self-assurance she had lost.
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve felt mentally confident,” Jackson said.
She credits a lot of the support she received to LSU head coach Dennis Shaver.
“He just felt so genuine, and I just needed a coach who believed in me. A coach I could feel comfortable talking to,” Jackson said.
After arriving in Baton Rouge, Jackson received help addressing her injuries and found something equally important. With her health improving and confidence returning, Jackson’s focus shifted toward trusting herself again.
“I’ve got to stop giving up on myself,” Jackson said when asked what the experience taught her.
Her decision to keep going quickly showed what was still ahead. In her first individual race as an LSU Tiger in March 2026, Jackson crossed the finish line first in the 300 meters with a time of 35.89 seconds, breaking the collegiate outdoor record. Still, after spending much of her collegiate career battling to stay healthy, Jackson’s first reaction had little to do with the record.
“I was just happy I finished healthy,” she said.
And healthy she was. Weeks later, Jackson returned to the 200 meters. The result brought her back to the number that once represented the best of her young career: 22.35 seconds.
Jackson finished second in that race, but less than two months later, she moved beyond that familiar mark. She set a personal best of 22.12 seconds to earn a silver medal at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, ranking No. 3 in LSU history and No. 10 in the world at the time. Jackson also won a silver in the 4 x 100-meter relay and a bronze in the 100-meter dash to highlight a remarkable All-American performance at the NCAA Championships.
The numbers make it look as though Jackson picked up where she left off. However, they cannot measure everything that changed between the two times of 22.35 seconds. The injuries that once took her away from track reshaped her relationship with the sport, while the people around her helped restore the confidence she had lost.
Now, the stopwatch is moving again. But after experiencing how quickly running can be taken away, Jackson has learned that success is measured by more than the time displayed when she crosses the finish line.