The 19-year-old rising star ran a season-best 11.09 in the preliminaries of the 100m and then came back to ruin 11.15 to finish third in the final that was won by the outstanding American Sha Carri Richardson, who clocked 10.77, her third time under 10.8 in as many races this season.
With tired legs, Williams then ran the 200m finishing eighth in 22.96 in the race won by American Gabby Thomas in 22.12, the second-fastest time in the world this year. Allyson Felix ran 22.26 for second place in her season-opener.
Afterwards, Williams let her fans know how she felt about the day’s work.
“What a great day. Feeling like myself again,” she posted on Facebook. “Coach challenged me to run three races in two hours and it went (mostly) well.
“100m heats - an easing-up 11.09 one of my fastest-ever times in just 100m race number two since 2019. 100m final - third place 11.15 into a headwind. 200m final - (22.96w and dead last no legs left ?) but the work was necessary after no indoor season and working around an early-year injury.”
Williams has had a limited number of outings this season. She opened up outdoors with an 11.28 100m at the USATF Grand Prix in Eugene, Oregon on April 24. On that occasion, she just missed out on advancing to the final of the 100m that was won by Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare in a season-best 10.97.
The 19-year-old Williams, the lead-off runner on Jamaica’s women 4x100m relay team that won the gold medal in a national record of 41.02s at the Tokyo Olympics, is the youngest in the field but wants to go well below her personal best of 10.97 that was run at the Ansin Sports Complex in Florida in June.
"My coach keeps saying I still haven't run the time he was expecting this season. I'm looking forward to lining up with these amazing women to see if the field can push me to a personal best," said Williams, who is still mourning the loss of her grandmother Vive Colquhoun-Simpson, who died the teenager was competing in Tokyo.
Meanwhile, her coach, Ato Boldon believes Williams has earned this moment.
"She is running well and has earned her spot. I expect her to perform well, as she does in all the big races,” he said.
“Training indicates she will be competitive here. I told her to enjoy it. Everyone else your age is at home watching it. You’re in it.”
The Prefontaine Classic 100m Women's final includes the fastest woman alive, Elaine Thompson-Herah, who ran an Olympic record of 10.61 while winning gold in Tokyo, Shelly-Ann Fraser, who ran a lifetime best of 10.63 in June and Sha’Carri Richardson, whose personal best of 10.72 was run in April.
Also in the line-up are Shericka Jackson, who set a brand new personal best of 10.76 while winning the Olympic bronze medal and Marie Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast, who was fourth at the Olympic Games after having run a lifetime best of 10.78 in the semi-finals.
The 21-year-old American ran 10.74 in the preliminary round of the 100m and then followed up with 10.77 in the final despite a stiff enough headwind of -1.2m/s. This is the third time in as many races this season that she has run under 10.8s.
Williams, who opened her 100m season with 11.29 in Oregon a week ago, clocked 11.15 for third in the final to follow up on her season-best 11.09 that she ran in the preliminaries for second in Richardson’s heat.
Javaine Oliver was third in 11.08.
McMaster broke his own British Virgin Islands national record of 47.54 when he clocked 47.50 for second place in the 400m hurdles won by Rai Benjamin in a world-leading 47.13. Alison Dos Santos, who finished third, also set a Brazilian national record of 47.68.
Jamaica’s Kemar Mowatt was fourth in a season-best 48.90.
Meanwhile, Kimberly Williams won the triple jump with 14.62m.
Thomas-Dodd threw 18.91m to finish second in the shot put won by the USA’s Maggie Ewen who threw a season-best 19.32. The USA’s Jessica Ramsay was third with her best effort of 18.58m. Two other Caribbean athletes finished in the top 10. Jamaica’s Lloydrica Cameron produced a personal best throw of 18.33m for sixth place while Trinidad and Tobago’s Portious Warren uncorked a 17.83m effort for eighth.
The 100m hurdles was keenly a contested race but world-record holder Kendra Harrison proved to be too much for the field running a season-best 12.48 for the victory. In her wake was Cindy Semper who ran a personal best 12.53 for second place. Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan clocked 12.61 for third, the same time as Devynne Charlton, who established a new Bahamas national record.
A couple of Trinidadian’s picked up third-place finishes in their respective events. Deon Lendore ran a season-best 45.04 in the 400m won by the USA’s Michael Norman in 44.40. Michael Cherry ran 44.86 for second place.
Meanwhile, Jereem Richards ran a season-best 20.20 to finish behind Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek, who ran 19.90 and 19.94 for first and second, respectively.
Gabby Thomas won the 200m in a season-best 22.12 over Allyson Felix who opened with a fast 22.26 for second place. Lynna Irby was third in 22.37.
Thompson-Herah, who won the 100/200m double at the 2016 Rio Olympics, created history in Tokyo earlier this month when she became the first woman to successfully defend both titles at the same Olympics.
She won the 100m in an Olympic record of 10.61, eclipsing the 10.62 set by Florence Griffith-Joyner at Seoul in 1988 and followed up by winning the 200m in a personal best of 21.53, which made her the second-fastest woman in history.
She then added a third gold medal as a member of Jamaica’s 4x100m sprint relay team that established a new national record of 41.02.
The 21-year-old Richardson, who ran a personal best 10.72 in April, won the 100m at US trials in July in 10.86. However, she was subsequently banned for a month after testing positive for THC, a derivative of marijuana. Her omission triggered a debate about whether she would have won had she been allowed to compete in Tokyo.
However, the much-touted American will not only be facing the Olympic champion in the blue-ribbon sprint. She is also facing a motivated Fraser-Pryce, the second-fastest woman in the world this year and the third fastest all time, who is likely to be still smarting from her loss in the Olympic 100m final.
The 34-year-old two-time Olympic champion (2008, 2012) was considered the overwhelming favourite to land a third 100m Olympic title following her 10.63s run at the National Stadium in Kingston on June 5. However, she finished second to Thompson-Herah in 10.74.
The Olympic 100m bronze medalist Jackson, who ran a personal best 10.76 in Tokyo, has also been included in the line-up that will also feature, Tokyo relay gold medalist Briana Williams (10.97), Teahna Daniels (10.98), Javiane Oliver (10.96) and Marie Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast, who ran a personal best 10.78 in Tokyo.
Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji who has run a season-best 10.96, is also listed for the clash that is perhaps the fastest field ever assembled.
Rising American star Sha’ Carri Richardson will take on two-time Olympic champion and four-time world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the 100m in a much-anticipated matchup in the United Kingdom.
Defending Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah and European champion Dina Asher-Smith will also add spice to the potentially sizzling showdown.
Richardson, who is trained by Dennis Mitchell, stunned the world on April 10 when she blazed to a world-leading 10.72 at the Miramar South Florida Invitational.
It was the fastest time run by a woman that early in the season and announced to the world the potential threat she poses to the Jamaican stranglehold on the Olympic blue-riband event since Fraser-Pryce became the first Jamaican woman to win an Olympic 100m title in Beijing in 2008.
Fraser-Pryce defended her title in 2012 but was defeated by Thompson-Herah at Rio 2016. Richardson represents the USA’s best hope of breaking that hold.
Meanwhile, Asher-Smith, the reigning European 100 and 200m champion should not be overlooked. Second to Fraser-Pryce at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, the Briton has not raced outdoors so far this season but looked sharp in a couple of indoor meets in Germany in January.
The first Wanda Diamond League event of 2021 was due to take place in Rabat but has been moved to Gateshead due to the coronavirus pandemic. It means Gateshead International Stadium will be staging its first international Grand Prix meeting since 2010.
Richardson, who went into Gateshead with the three fastest times in the 100m this season – 10.72, 10.74 and 10.77 – was collared by Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, who sped to victory in 11.35s in rainy, windy and cold conditions.
The headwind was measured at -3.1m/s. The American was well back in 11.44s. She was just ahead of Marie Jose Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast who clocked in at 11.48. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who like Asher-Smith, was running her first 100m of the season, clocked 11.51s for fourth.
Afterwards, a defiant Richardson said: “I'm happy with my race. I'm definitely proud that I was able to execute and now I know what I need to go back and work on and what I need to get better at.
“This won't be the last time that I'm going to line up against these ladies and I want to let the world know and let the ladies know that I'm here to compete just as well as they've done for many years. I'm here to show them what I'm good at. I'm definitely looking forward to running in some sunshine next week in Doha!”
Meanwhile, the victor was ecstatic about the outcome.
“I feel really good. Conditions were far from ideal for sprinting but the most important thing is to come away with a good result and a win and I was very happy to do that. I think all in all today was more of an experience but the only thing that can indicate Tokyo is the Olympic final itself,” she said.
“I want to stay focused, do well and get better from here.”
