Danielle Williams - Golden Darling

IT was as unexpected as it was sweet.

The joy of Danielle Gracia Williams winning the women's 100m hurdles final at the 2015 World Athletics Championships in Beijing, China, still lingers.

Then 22 years old, the Jamaican, running a controlled and composed race, allowed her form and superior speed to gain full momentum to surge past her rivals and win in a lifetime best 12.57 seconds.

Only Brigitte Foster-Hylton had ever won the World Championship sprint hurdles gold medal for Jamaica prior.

Germany's Cindy Roleder, 12.58, and Belarus' Alaina Talay, 12.59, complemented the medal-winning trio.

Significantly, Danielle, along with her elder sister, Shermaine, ensured Jamaica a piece of history as the only siblings to have competed together in a World Championships sprint hurdles final.

Shermaine, who was injured earlier in the season, finished seventh in 12.95 seconds.

did not foresee victory

However, not even Danielle had foreseen her victory.

A sprinter-hurdler in her junior career, she would have taken comfort in claiming a place among the world's top eight.

"I was just hoping to make the final. I thought I could make the final," Williams, born September 14, 1992, admitted in an interview with The Gleaner after claiming World Championships gold.

Much akin to her humble, yet confident persona, however, she took things in stride.

"I wasn't confident in medalling until I made the semi-final run," she confessed. "Then I saw that it might be possible at that time."

Little by little, Danielle had been chipping off the block. A former student-athlete of The Queen's School, she went on to represent Jamaica at the Junior Central American and Caribbean Games in 2010, where she won the 100m hurdles gold in 14.11 seconds.

Later in the year, and at a higher level, she lowered her time to 13.46 seconds; however, she missed a medal at the World Junior Championships as she placed fourth.

scaling new heights

In 2011, Williams - with 100m and 200m bests of 11.24 and 22.62, respectively, earlier in her career - continued to scale new heights over the hurdles by improving her mark to 13.32 seconds, a time she did while landing silver at the Junior Pan American Games.

She attained a scholarship and moved on to Johnson C. Smith University in the United States, following in the footsteps of Shermaine. There, she also teamed up with her present coach, Lennox Graham, himself a former hurdles standout for Kingston College, at the junior level and then at the university level while on scholarship in the US.

Her exploits earned her a spot on Jamaica's team to the World University Games in 2013, where she continued her acceleration to claim a bronze medal, chipping a huge chunk off her previous best as she finished in 12.84.

As is the case in any game, one's momentum will shift. For Danielle, her first World Championships, in Russia in 2013, represented a dip, with a 13.13 seconds time good enough only for the semis.

A year on, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow signalled a recovery, with the Jamaican clocking 13.06 seconds. Though she placed fourth, the message was clear: Danielle was on the move again.

The year 2015 was a testament, and a golden one at that.

Starting with her second coming at the World University Games, she laid out a statement, running her best ever to win the final in 12.78 seconds.

Another personal best followed, this time at the JAAA/Supreme Ventures National Track and Field Championships, where she decimated her PB to 12.69 seconds, winning her first senior national title.

By the semi-finals at the Worlds in Beijing, Danielle had again achieved a PB, a 12.58 clocking, plus victory.

The clocking represented another pre-set goal for Beijing, achieving a lifetime best. That whetted the appetite for more. It meant more.

"I wasn't confident of medalling until I made the semi-final run," the well-spoken athlete with a distinct Jamaican accent divulged. "Then I saw that it might be possible at that time."

When it came down to the final, American Brianna Rollins, a pre-race favourite, hit the first hurdle. Near the seventh, Great Britain's Tiffany Porter, another expected to win, buckled under the pressure - Danielle's pressure.

Danielle was steady, just as her focus, as she held a path in the middle of lane five, unflinching, unmoved by those setting the early pace. At the point where it all mattered - the finish - her speed and form separated her from the pack as she burst through for an unimagined gold, which made it even sweeter.