Melissa Jefferson-Wooden on Why She Plans to Run Fewer Races in 2027

American sprinter Melissa Jefferson-Wooden is just beginning her rest from what was a busy 2026 season but she intends to scale down her schedule in 2027.

The reigning world 100m and 200m champion featured in nine events in the just-concluded season, winning seven, while her worst finish was second place.

It was an incredible level of consistency for a woman who was equally formidable in 2025, when she won the sprint double at the World Championships, besides dominating the Grand Slam Track and winning the Diamond League title.

However, the 25-year-old says the next year is very crucial if she wants to win the only medal still missing from her collection, an individual Olympics gold.

While defending her world title will be high on her list in 2027, Jefferson-Wooden says she must be very tactical and choose her races carefully as it will have an effect on how she performs at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“Going into 2027, it is going to be how and when I race,” Jefferson-Wooden said on the Nightcap podcast.

“I am going to be very strategic in all I do because all of this is not for nothing. You have to go to [Beijing] China and defend your title but also look at 2028.

“The turnaround time that I am going to have for the World Championships and when we have the Olympics is going to be really short because the World Championships is normally in September whereas the Olympics trials in 2028 is going to be in June so that is going to change a lot of things too.”

It will be interesting to see how Jefferson-Wooden goes about her programme in 2027 after two energy-sapping campaigns on the bounce and whether it yields the desired results.