Sport
Sprint hopeful Williams puts maths before medals
Sprint hopeful Williams puts maths before medals
March 10, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Reuters/London
British sprint hopeful Jodie Williams is back at school this week, her fourth place in the European indoor athletics championships just something to discuss during breaktime as she works towards her exams.
The 17-year-old world junior 100 metres champion missed out on a medal by a hundredth of a second in Paris on Sunday, catapulting her immediately into the "one to watch” category for the 2012 London Olympics.
British male sprinters have enjoyed a great deal of success in recent years but the country has never produced an Olympic women’s 100 or 200 metres champion and its last Olympic medal in these events came in 1960.
Williams has long been recognised within the sport as having the potential to make it to world-class level but she is likely to remain pretty low-profile for the general public in the build-up to her home Games.
She has opted against receiving lottery funding to enable her to maintain control of when and where she runs, with the chief result being that she will not be going to the world championships in South Korea in August.
Despite matching her personal best of 7.21 seconds and performing above expectations on her senior debut in Paris, Williams said it had not changed her outlook.
"I’m back at school this week which is going to be really strange—and I have a lot of work to catch up on,” Williams, who even took her maths homework with her to Paris, told reporters.
"It’s been an amazing experience. I have come a long way as an athlete but it’s made me more sure that I am not ready for the senior worlds yet. I wouldn’t be ready to compete against all those top names.
"If possible I would like to run a few Diamond League meetings this year to get used to the senior environment a bit more. I want to do it gradually. I don’t want to be another name along with the list of juniors who have fizzled out too soon. I want to be the name that breaks through.”
Williams, who is also studying psychology and physical education at her Hertfordshire school, finished just behind Norway’s Ezinne Okparaebo on Sunday in a race won by Ukrainian Olesya Povh.
As a junior Williams logged an impressive five-year, 151-race unbeaten run, which ended last year when she finished second in the world junior championships 200 metres final.
"She has huge natural talent but so do a lot of other young sprinters,” respected coach Mike Holden told Reuters.
"A lot of them lose interest in their teens when there are so many distractions but Jodie has shown she is ready to work and listen to others.
"She didn’t get carried away when she was winning all the time and didn’t go into a sulk when she finally lost, and that’s a good sign.
"She is also lucky to be working with a great coach in Mike McFarlane, who is particularly good with younger athletes.”
McFarlane understands Williams’s situation well, having been a European indoor 60m champion as a junior before going on to become a Commonwealth 200m gold medallist and winning an Olympic relay silver.
"I’m just doing what I feel is necessary for her growth at this stage in her career as an athlete and a human being,” McFarlane said ahead of the European championships.
"Jodie’s got a lot of stuff going on. She’s 17, she’s got her studies, she’s got track, her friends, the boy element is coming into it—she’s got to balance a lot of things.”
Britain’s head coach Charles van Commenee, who has now reluctantly accepted Williams’s decision not to race in the world championships, could not hide his pleasure when he talked about her longer-term future.
"I am excited about her potential,” he said. "She’s the sort of athlete every country is waiting for.”
| Jodie Willaims...in the spotlight |
The 17-year-old world junior 100 metres champion missed out on a medal by a hundredth of a second in Paris on Sunday, catapulting her immediately into the "one to watch” category for the 2012 London Olympics.
British male sprinters have enjoyed a great deal of success in recent years but the country has never produced an Olympic women’s 100 or 200 metres champion and its last Olympic medal in these events came in 1960.
Williams has long been recognised within the sport as having the potential to make it to world-class level but she is likely to remain pretty low-profile for the general public in the build-up to her home Games.
She has opted against receiving lottery funding to enable her to maintain control of when and where she runs, with the chief result being that she will not be going to the world championships in South Korea in August.
Despite matching her personal best of 7.21 seconds and performing above expectations on her senior debut in Paris, Williams said it had not changed her outlook.
"I’m back at school this week which is going to be really strange—and I have a lot of work to catch up on,” Williams, who even took her maths homework with her to Paris, told reporters.
"It’s been an amazing experience. I have come a long way as an athlete but it’s made me more sure that I am not ready for the senior worlds yet. I wouldn’t be ready to compete against all those top names.
"If possible I would like to run a few Diamond League meetings this year to get used to the senior environment a bit more. I want to do it gradually. I don’t want to be another name along with the list of juniors who have fizzled out too soon. I want to be the name that breaks through.”
Williams, who is also studying psychology and physical education at her Hertfordshire school, finished just behind Norway’s Ezinne Okparaebo on Sunday in a race won by Ukrainian Olesya Povh.
As a junior Williams logged an impressive five-year, 151-race unbeaten run, which ended last year when she finished second in the world junior championships 200 metres final.
"She has huge natural talent but so do a lot of other young sprinters,” respected coach Mike Holden told Reuters.
"A lot of them lose interest in their teens when there are so many distractions but Jodie has shown she is ready to work and listen to others.
"She didn’t get carried away when she was winning all the time and didn’t go into a sulk when she finally lost, and that’s a good sign.
"She is also lucky to be working with a great coach in Mike McFarlane, who is particularly good with younger athletes.”
McFarlane understands Williams’s situation well, having been a European indoor 60m champion as a junior before going on to become a Commonwealth 200m gold medallist and winning an Olympic relay silver.
"I’m just doing what I feel is necessary for her growth at this stage in her career as an athlete and a human being,” McFarlane said ahead of the European championships.
"Jodie’s got a lot of stuff going on. She’s 17, she’s got her studies, she’s got track, her friends, the boy element is coming into it—she’s got to balance a lot of things.”
Britain’s head coach Charles van Commenee, who has now reluctantly accepted Williams’s decision not to race in the world championships, could not hide his pleasure when he talked about her longer-term future.
"I am excited about her potential,” he said. "She’s the sort of athlete every country is waiting for.”
March 10, 2011 | 12:00 AM