CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Johnson C. Smith University alumna made her Olympics debut in Paris on Wednesday. Danielle Williams, who is representing Jamaica in Paris, competed in Heat 4 for the women's 100-meter hurdles, coming in first for her heat with a time of 12.59 and qualifying for the next round.
The repechage round for the 100-meter hurdles is slated for Thursday starting at 4:35 a.m., followed by semifinals Friday starting at 6:05 a.m.
"We're a proud nation, and they love winners," Williams said. "There's a joke that if you get a silver or bronze medal, it doesn't really mean much 'cause all they want is gold. It's definitely hard dealing with all that outside pressure."
She said she tries to not let that get into her headspace.
While this is her first time competing in the Olympic Games, she's used to competition. While at JCSU, she won several NCAA titles, CIAA championships, and All-America honors.
She's also a two-time world champion at the World Athletics Championships in the 100m hurdles. In 2023, she won gold in the World Athletics Championships in the women's 100m hurdles final with a time of 12.43 seconds.
Williams said she's focused her recent training on fine-tuning the parts of her approach she feels can be stronger.
"Win, lose or draw, I mean -- it's immense pride," Williams said.
She said she's felt the support from the JCSU community as she's prepared for the Summer Games.
"Coming from an HBCU and a Division II school, there's not many of us that are competing -- that I'm aware of, especially in track and field," she said. "So it's definitely another source of pride of mine."
Williams is the sixth Olympian to come out of JCSU, but she said she hopes there are many more in the future.
"It's definitely something that I hold dear to me, because I came from the unconventional route to get to where I am and it's because of -- largely a part of JCSU that is responsible for me being where I am," Williams said.