If she can before March, a medal at the World Indoor Athletics Championships could be in the offing.
The 19-year-old Olympic gold medalist opened her season equaling her previous lifetime best of 7.18 at the Purple Tiger meet in Louisiana on January 14 but after promising to go even faster at the Millrose Games, two weeks later, she finished a disappointing fourth in 7.22.
To rub salt into her emotional wound, Williams, the youngest ever Jamaican Olympic gold medalist was beaten by 16-year-old Shawnti Jackson, who equalled the Jamaican’s lifetime best of 7.18, which for her was a personal best as well as an American high school record.
Fast-forward to Sunday and the preliminary heats of the 60m dash where Williams exploded to a brand new personal best of 7.09, which at the time, was the second-fastest time in the world this year. It was the fastest time going into the final that was won by Mikiah Brisco, who caught Williams late in the race before edging in front to record a new world lead of 7.07.
Williams ran her second-fastest time ever, 7.11, for second place.
Her times of 7.09 and 7.11 make her the fastest Jamaican in the world this year, 0.05 faster than Kemba Nelson’s 7.16 set a week ago and 0.14 faster than Kevona Davis’ 7.25.
“My coach and I knew this was coming. It was just for me to have the patience and the right race,” said Williams after her races on Sunday.
“I was happy with my personal best in the preliminaries and to follow that up with 7.11 in the final. There are still things to work on as you can see from the final, but I'm happy with my finish today.”
Among the things she has to work on is getting back the electric start that had defined her career to date as one of the best in the world but which has seemingly deserted her recently.
Williams’ coach, Ato Boldon, believes Williams is primed to go faster but her start has become an issue of concern.
“This is just her third race of the season, her rhythm is better and she is out of the weight room. We still have things to figure out. She is still not starting well,” he said, suggesting that he believes it’s all in her head.
“She is thinking about it. It’s a starting slump.”
Boldon said he would rate her performances on Sunday as an eight-out-ten, believing that once she gets back to instinctively starting well, she will go faster; seven-zero-low.
Williams, 18, will run in the 60m dash.
She had been scheduled to open her season running the 150m and the 300m in the Bahamas last December but withdrew at the last minute. Since then, the cancellation of a number of meets because of the pandemic has prevented her from competing so far this season.
However, according to Boldon, she has been training well and just wants a chance to compete.
“Ideally, I would have liked Briana to have run several meets by now. She has been begging me to get out of training and into competition but between Covid and the mishap in Freeport, Bahamas it just didn’t work out. So, her first meet will be on February 13 in New York,” Boldon said, indicating that his young charge is as ready to compete as she will ever be.
“She’s ready as she was last season; she opened in 7.2 and then started to get consistent at 7.1. I think she is a little bit ahead of last year. She is in better shape and is a little stronger.”
He indicated that because this is her first meet for the year, they are approaching the meet with an open mind.
“There is really not a lot of expectation going into the first race because the truth is it’s a lot more important to just get her out of training and get her back on the horse, so to speak,” he said.
“She is very excited for it and we look forward to a good indoor season that sort of segues into a great outdoor season in 2021.”
In the long jump competition, Carey McLeod soared to a season-best mark of 8.20m, securing victory against a highly competitive field. This remarkable feat came shortly after his training partner Wayne Pinnock set a world-leading mark of 8.34m in New Mexico just a couple of days prior. The talented field included Jacob Fincham Dukes of Great Britain, who claimed second place with an impressive 8.02m jump, and Juvaughn Harrison, a multi-talented jumper who secured third place with a leap of 7.87m.
Akeem Blake, while not claiming the top spot in his event, delivered a lifetime-best performance in the men's 60m. In a tightly contested race, Blake finished second, crossing the line in an indoor lifetime best 6.45. The victory went to American superstar Noah Lyles, who clocked a lifetime-best time of 6.44 which was also a meet record and world-leading performance.
In the women's 60m hurdles, the competition was intense and thrilling, featuring 2022 world champion Tobi Amusan, Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas, and Tia Jones of the USA. Tia Jones emerged victorious with a lifetime-best and world-leading time of 7.72, showcasing her sprinting prowess. Amusan lowered her national record set in Kazakhstan a week ago, finishing second with a time of 7.75. Charlton closely followed, just outside her own national record, securing third place with a time of 7.76.
Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper also participated, finishing seventh with a season's best time of 8.02.
Williams, 18, was supposed to have opened her season last December in Freeport, Bahamas but then withdrew citing issues with the meet promoters.
Since then, she was being put through her paces by Coach Ato Boldon, who revealed recently that the 2018 World U20 100 and 200m champion was straining at the leash, eager to compete. For her part, Williams, having had a taste of indoor running last year, said she is looking forward to doing to again.
“I am very excited and also grateful to be able to run in this meet coming up February 13. I have been eager to run and seeing everyone running well indoors, I wanted to give it another try,” she said.
“I am just going to race happy, prepared. I feel strong and in shape. I just cant wait to see the times I’ll do and I just hope I do well.”
In February 2020, Williams, then 17, ran a personal best 7.18 while finishing third at the Millrose Games at the Armoury in New York.
The diminutive Jamaican was among several Caribbean athletes, who delivered outstanding performances at the meet as Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards ran under 46 seconds indoors for the first time to win the 400m while Danielle Williams ran a lifetime best to win the 60m hurdles.
The 30-year-old Goule, who was second to Ajee Wilson at the Millrose Games on January 29, ran 1:59.62 to win the 800m ahead of Olivia Baker, whose 2:00.63 was a personal best. Isabelle Boffey also ran a personal-best 2:01.37 for third.
Goule said afterwards that she was very grateful for the performance because she went into the meet heavily loaded after a hard week of training.
Richards had an encouraging start to his indoor season when he sped to a personal indoor best of 45.84 to win the quarter-mile sprint.
The Trinidadian held his form down the home stretch to hold off Vernon Norwood of the USA, who was second in a personal-best 46.06. Khamari Montgomery was third in 46.24.
The women’s event was won by the USA’s Jessica Beard in a season-best 52.88. Kyra Constantine of Canada took the silver with her time of 52.96 while Jamaica’s Roneisha McGregor ran a personal best 53.01 for third.
Jamaica went 1-2 in the women’s 60m hurdles won by Williams, the 2015 world champion, in a season-best 7.83, just holding off her fast-finishing compatriot Britany Anderson, who ran a personal-best 7.88. The USA’s Gabrielle Cunningham clocked 7.92, a season-best, for third
The meet represented an opportunity for 19-year-old Briana Williams to rebound from her disappointing performance over 60m at the recent Millrose Games where she finished fourth in 7.22, beaten by Aleia Hobbs, Mikiah Brisco and 16-year-old high school student Shawnti Jackson, who ran a USA high-school record and personal best 7.18 for third, which was also Williams’ lifetime best.
On Sunday, Williams bounced back in style, uncorking a personal best 7.09 to win her preliminary heat and advance to the finals with the fastest time. It took a world-leading run of 7.07 from Brisco in the final to deny Williams, who ran a smart 7.11 for second place. The USA’s Destiny Smith Barrett clocked a personal best 7.14 for third.
Noah Lyles won the men’s equivalent in a personal best 6.56 ahead of Barbados’s Mario Burke, who crossed the finish line in a season-best 6.63. Travis Collins ran 6.64 for third.
In the men’s 200m, the USA’s Trayvon Bromell pulled out all the stops to hold off Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor and win in 20.64. Taylor stopped the clock in 20.81. The USA’s Elijah Hall was also in the mix, finishing third in 20.82.
