KINGSTON, Jamaica — After equaling her personal best with a 10.97 seconds performance to win the 100 meters at the JAAA/SDF Jubilee Series 2.3 meeting in Jamaica on Saturday (4), Briana Williams says she is happy with her form and is now looking forward to running even faster this season.
The Olympic gold medalist with the winning 4x100m relay team in Tokyo, last summer, posted her first sub-11 seconds with a legal wind reading this season and just the third in her career, and she was “very pleased” to be heading in the right direction at the championship time of the season.
READ MORE: [Video] Briana Williams ties PB with 10.97 to win in Jamaica
“I am very pleased,” Williams said in a post-race interview. “Anything sub-11, I am very grateful for that. I don’t have many.”
Williams admitted that the upcoming Jamaica National Championships to select the teams for the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, next month, and several other senior championships in the summer, including the Commonwealth Games in the United Kingdom, will be “very” competitive for everyone hoping to make the respective teams.
However, the 20-year-old is confidently looking forward to competing against some of the best sprinters in the world.
“I am really looking forward to it. I know the hard work I’ve put in. My indoor season proves that I am ready. I am ready for a new PB, especially at the trials.”
Williams finished 9th and last in the women’s 100m at the 2022 Prefontaine Classic at the end of last month with a time of 11.20 seconds and it left her feeling a bit short on confidence.
“I am just grateful for this 10.97 secs to see where I’m at because last week wasn’t perfect (at the Prefontaine Classic). I just use this to prepare for the trials.”
“It’s definitely boosted my confidence once more because last week wasn’t the best in my life and I am just glad to be back out here running 10.9, especially this early for me.
After enduring several questions about her preparations under current coach Ato Boldon, Williams revealed that she knows that she will be ready when the time comes.
The 2018 World Junior sprint double champion will take on the likes of the double Olympic champion from Tokyo Elaine Thompson-Herah, reigning world champion and current world leader Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, as well as the Olympic bronze medalist Shericka Jackson, among other top sprinters at the national championships.
“I know I’ll be ready,” she noted.
Jamaica will be able to send four women to the World Championships in the 100m as Fraser-Pryce returns as the defending world champion from Doha in 2019.
