Williams after she won her semi-final heat in 11.25s, the second fastest time going into the 100m finals.
Jamaica's Briana Williams continued her impressive showing on Thursday in the semi-finals of the Women's 100m at the IAAF U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland.
Running in wet conditions, the 16-year-old Jamaican, exploded from the blocks and cruised home in 11.25s to win the second of three semi-finals heats.
However, unlike in the preliminary round when she had the fastest time, Williams' time was only second best as Twanisha Terry, the American favoured for the gold medal, set a new championship record of 11.03s in winning the first of three semi-finals. It is the seventh fastest ever time run at the U20 level. The American, who has a personal best of 10.99, said her aim was to break the 11-second barrier at these championships and seems on course to achieve that goal.
Great Britain's Kristal Awauh secured her place in the final by winning the third semi-final in 11.37s and looks set to be on the podium after today's final.
TT's Jenea Spinks was third in 11.62 and Jamaica's Ockera Myrie 11.67, were third and fourth, respectively, and failed to advance to the final.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
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Omar McLeod confident new coach can lead him to World Champs glory
After only two weeks with Rana Reider’s Tumbleweed Track Club, 2017 World Champion, Omar McLeod is confident he is back on track to defend his world title at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
'I feel ready to go again' - McLeod feels positive for Doha after coaching change
Jamaica world and Olympic champion Omar McLeod believes things are getting back to normal, following yet another chance in training regime.
The 25-year-old had trained with Eldrick Floreal up until late 2018 but then moved to Gary Evans at Empire Athletics in Florida. Tony Ross at World Fastest Humans was his hurdles coach. The athlete has since struggled, however. Before claiming the top spot in Birmingham on Sunday, McLeod won only two hurdles races and has a season-best time of 13.12s set at the Diamond League meeting in Shanghai, China.
The athlete is, however, rumored to have joined the Tumbleweed camp of elite coach Rana Reider in Jacksonville, Florida, earlier this month and seems to be in a better frame of mind. On Sunday, at the Birmingham Diamond League meet, McLeod clocked 13.21, well clear of the United States’ Freddie Crittenden (13.31) and Xie Wenjun (13.43). Following the win, the athlete admitted, the target was getting in shape for the World Championships.
“It was pretty easy and felt good. It was nice to make up for what happened in London. I'm in a new environment with a new coach and I feel like I'm ready to go again,” McLeod said.
“For Doha, I need to go there in the best possible shape and not been half-bothered about it. Anything can happen and I need to go there as defending champion and be ready to compete,” he added.
“I have the Diamond League finals prior to Doha so I need to be ready for that.”
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