Williams takes aim at Belgrade

THE JAMAICAN team to the World Indoor Championships has not been named yet, but world leading hurdler Danielle Williams is almost certain to be on the plane to Belgrade, the Serbian capital hosting the event next month.

Williams has never been in better form for the indoor 60-metre hurdles and is looking ahead with quiet anticipation.

She is undefeated so far in 2022, with four wins in a row, and has sliced her personal best down from 7.86 seconds to 7.83, and then 7.75 seconds, 0.01 off Michelle Freeman's national record.

Williams and her Jamaican coach, Lennox Graham, have been refining her technique and she felt the difference in her last race, on February 11, on the Clemson University track where she trains.

"It felt very good. From the semis I knew that we were on to something because I ran a 7.8 very comfortably, so I knew we were on to something. But the focus was just on executing what we were working on in practice," she said yesterday from her base in South Carolina.

Her Tiger Paw semi-final time was 7.86 seconds.

A month from now, the 29-year-old Jamaican could well be in Belgrade with a chance to win.

"It's a wonderful feeling to know that, you know, you're one of the top hurdlers in the world," she luxuriated. "That is what we work for, we aim for.

"So going into that championships, hopefully it goes off without a scratch, the aim is always on executing and I know, once I execute to the best of my ability and keep a level head, I should be among the medallists," Williams pondered modestly.

Jamaica only has three medals in this event, gold and silver from Freeman and Gillian Russell-Love in 1997 and silver by Freeman in 2001. But with Olympic finalist Britany Anderson standing at fourth fastest in the world with a recent personal best of 7.82, the prospects are bright.

Annoyed by a foot injury last season, Williams managed just fourth in the National Senior Championships and went to Tokyo for the Olympics as an alternate. Nevertheless, she is delighted that Megan Tapper won Jamaica's first medal in the 100-metre hurdles at the Olympic level.

"Absolutely. There is space for all of us to thrive in the sport and the great thing about hurdles and our event is we are so deep and obviously, I want to be out there competing, but in the event that I cannot, I'm so happy that there are others who are just as capable of going out there and representing our country, and winning medals as well," she enthused.

Williams and Graham are targeting one more meet before Belgrade, but she also has her sights on Eugene and the outdoors World Championships in July.

"It's the major games happening this year in our sport so that's definitely the target," said the 2015 World champion and 2021 bronze medal winner.