Jamaican sprinter, HBCU alumna heads to Olympics

HBCU alumna, Jamaican sprinter and world champion Danielle Williams is headed to the Olympics.

Williams ran a 12.53 in the Jamaican 100m hurdles finals — good for second to Ackera Nugent who shattered the Jamaican Record, running a blistering 12.28s. Her mark is the current world-leading time and the eighth-fastest-ever run by a woman in the event.

Williams will be taking her talents in Paris, making her debut at the Olympics. But she’s far from a novice on the world stage. She’s a two-time winner of the World Championships in the 100m hurdles, and the reigning world champion.

Following in the footsteps of her sister, Shermaine Williams, Danielle Williams attended Johnson C. Smith where she was a standout at the Division II level. Both sisters have run for the Jamaican national team in international competitions.

Danielle Williams won nine NCAA titles (eight individual, one relay), 13 CIAA championships (11 individual, two relay), earned 13 All-America honors between 2013 and 2014. She also won USTFCCCA National Women’s Indoor Track or Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year three times during her time at the Charlotte, NC-based HBCU.

Danielle Williams inked her way into the NCAA Division II record books as a junior in 2013 when she scored 30½ points thanks to event titles in the 100, 200 and 4×100 relay, as well as a runner-up finish in the 100 Hurdles. She set current divisional records in the 200 (22.62) and 4×100 relay (44.05), clocked the second-fastest performance in divisional history in the 100H (12.89) and notched the fifth fastest performance in the 100 (11.24).

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