At the 2023 World Track and Field Championships, HBCU talent was well represented. Former Johnson C. Smith University sprinter Danielle Williams competed and came out victorious for Jamaica winning the women’s 100-meter hurdles. The Jamaican Phenom finished with a time of 12.43 holding off a tight race against reigning Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn who finished 0.01 seconds behind her.
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Winning this year’s race makes this Williams’ second World Athletics Championship victory and her third time standing on the podium. She first claimed a world victory in Beijing in 2015 and had previously earned the bronze medal in the 2019 Doha games.
Williams was very shocked after winning the race but felt very proud of her stellar performance against elite competition. Williams believes her confidence helped her achieve this huge accomplishment. She stated in the Olympics “ I still don’t believe I won against such a stellar field. I’ve been racing these ladies all year and they have been kicking me left, right and centre. But I had such confidence in my training and my abilities that I never stopped believing.”
For Williams, success is nothing new. Before becoming a world champion for Jamaica, she secured 13 CIAA championships, nine NCAA titles, and 13 All-American selections. She was named USTFCCCA National Women’s Track Athlete of the Year three times according to HBCU Sports. Earning all these accolades at Johnson C. Smith landed her a spot in the NCAA Division II Athlete Hall of Fame in 2020.
