Williams eyes 12.4 after Commonwealth silver

After enduring a series of setbacks at the beginning of the season, Danielle Williams says she will forever cherish the silver medal she won in the 100m hurdles at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games.

The 2015 world champion suffered two major injuries leading up to the Games and was only hoping to complete the races injury free.

But after cruising to her fastest season's opener of 12.69 in the preliminary round, Williams knew that she could threaten for the title.

Hamstring strain

"I had a grade-one strain hamstring tear in January and I was out for six weeks. After I had the go-ahead from the doctor to start training again, I actually re-injured my hamstring and I had to take an additional four weeks off," Williams recalled. "I started hurdling the third week in March. So going into Commonwealth Games I was only hurdling for a month and I was really unsure of how I was going to perform because I was not hurdling."

She continued: "I had no expectations going in. I just wanted to see how well I would bounce back to see how it will set me up for the rest of the season. I wasn't really expecting anything spectacular. After I ran the heat in 12.69, I was actually frightened because based on how training was progressing and the injury setbacks, I was not expecting that."

Williams finished second in the final in a time of 12.78 seconds. Nigeria's Oluwatobiloba Amusan won the race in 12.68.

"I am really grateful for the silver medal because, as I said, I had no expectations going into the Games," Williams said.

Williams, said that her performance at the Commonwealth Games has set the foundation for achieveing something she has been trying to achieve since she became a professional athlete in 2014.

"It is the first time I am opening with such a fast time and it gives me the chance to do something that I have wanted to do and that is to run 12.4," Williams, who has a personal best of 12.56, said.