Jamaican sprinter turned brakewoman Christania Williams is ecstatic after her bobsleigh debut at the IBSF World Cup event in Innsbruck, Austria on Sunday.

Williams, a 4x100m relay silver medalist at the Rio 2016 Olympics, teamed up with Austria’s Katrin Beierl to finish eighth in the two-woman bobsleigh.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medalist made an impressive debut as a brakewoman, helping the duo achieve the fourth and fifth fastest start times of the event, completing their runs with a combined time of 1:45.11.

The 30-year-old former Edwin Allen star, in an interview with IBSF after her debut on Sunday, reacted to her race and gave insight on how she was introduced to the sport.

“I think today I went way beyond my expectations. Things are looking really positive for the future,” she said, adding that she hasn’t done any track training in spikes yet this season.

“I have been training in Austria for a while, for two years now and my coach, Philipp Unfried, he suggested to me and I was like okay, it’s something new,” Williams said.

She then noted that, after doing track and field all her life, she was naturally excited at the prospect of trying a new sport for the first time.

Whenever trying something new, you naturally want to have a good understanding of the good and bad that can come with the change.

This was no different for Williams, who noted that her research didn’t deter her from the sport.

“Jamaica, it’s a sprint nation and we do have people that do bobsleigh but it’s not like in European countries,” Williams said.

“So, I started to do my research and I was looking at all the bad stuff but that didn’t discourage me at all to give it a try,” she added.

Williams, who also has a 4x100m bronze medal from the 2017 World Championships in London, then dived into what she was feeling on Sunday.

“I was very nervous. I have to say my first run down was on Sunday and it was rough and I was having doubts then but sliding with Kati, it felt way easier and the fear of sliding is not there anymore and I’m getting more comfortable racing,” she said.

She continued to speak highly of her pilot Beierl, a 2021 overall World Cup winner local hero.

“She believes in me and there was no doubt in me pushing with her today,” she said before adding that Beierl didn’t need to do much to calm her down, probably due to her experience on the biggest stages of track and field.

“I think I know how to handle pressure and I know how to deal with all that mental stuff so she didn’t need to do too much but yeah, I think we did a pretty good job coming to day, showing up and just delivering,” Williams added.

When asked to choose between Winter and Summer sports, “I would say both,” Williams said smartly.

“I think this is a rough sport and I have to give my hats off to all the ladies that are doing this because, if you should compare it with summer sports, it’s way harder,” she added.

When asked if she will be at more IBSF World Cup events after Sunday, “definitely” was Williams’ response.