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Tonight's the night - Williamson

Published:Friday | June 9, 2017 | 12:00 AMRachid Parchment
Jamaican high jumper Kimberly Williamson arrives in the island at the Norman Manley International Airport yesterday. Williamson will compete at the JN Racers Grand Prix today at the National Stadium.

Kimberly Williamson has said that she is optimistic that tonight is the night that she qualifies for the IAAF World Championships, when she competes in the women's high jump at the JN Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium this evening.

Williamson has a personal best of 1.91m, which she set in Manhattan, Kansas, last month. However, she missed the qualifying standard by just 3cm. Despite missing the height on all her attempts so far this season, she remains optimistic about her chances tonight, as her schedule has been less busy this week than in previous ones.

"The last time I was here a couple weeks ago (for the Jamaica International Invitational Meet), we had back-to-back meets in the island," she told The Gleaner. "We were competing, travelling, competing, so it was crazy. But this time, it's just one meet so, hopefully, it will definitely be better than the last."

She added that her optimism stems from her current form and being in good condition at the moment.

"Right now, I'm in pretty good form; no injury, nothing. Practice has been going well. So, so far, so good."

Even if events do not go in her favour, Williamson still has other opportunities to get to the height that sends her to London. She said that if this is the case, she will be remaining in Jamaica to continue putting in the training needed to clear the bar at the required 1.94m.

"Right now, I'll be in the island for two weeks because trials is in two weeks, and it didn't make any sense to do the back-and-forth travelling, so I'll be here competing and training, so that's really what's next. After that, it will be going to Europe for meets there and getting prepared for World Champs," she said.

This evening's expected line-up for the women's high jump sees Williamson up against Tynita Butts, Liz Patterson and Amina Smith of the United States, as well as Guyana's Natrena Hooper, and her Antiguan friend, Priscilla Fredrick.