Feature22 Jun 2018


Jamaican hurdler Williams targets top-three spot in Tampere

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Rovane Williams on his way to winning the 400m hurdles at the Carifta Games (© Leo Hudson)

Had it not been for athletics, Rovane Williams could have wound up living an undesirable life.

Williams, who recently became only the third Jamaican high school athlete behind Omar McLeod and Jaheel Hyde to complete the 400m hurdles within 50 seconds, says he was a wayward character who would often get into trouble.

“I started track and field at the Cave Valley All Age School in the parish of Hanover running the 800m and 1500m,” says the 18-year-old. “I remember competing at the JTA Athletics Championships inside the National Stadium before passing my exams to attend Rhodes Hall High School.”

Williams gave up track and field when he started at Rhodes Hall High School, but it was there where he first faced – and then overcame – some significant challenges.

“I used to fight a lot and one day I got into a serious fight which prompted the principal to immediately ship me off to a nearby counselling school,” said Williams. “When I returned to school, the principal gave me two options: either I stay and do track or leave for another school. I decided I wanted to stay.”

He continued competing in middle-distance events and began building a solid reputation. In his first year (2015) competing at the high school level, he was one of the favourites for a medal going into the ISSA Boys and Girls Championships (Champs), but he didn’t get to participate because he didn’t have a birth certificate at the time.

That temporary setback was perhaps a blessing in disguise for Williams. During that period, he was introduced to the 400m hurdles by his coach and mentor, Rhonda Parchment.

“At first I didn’t like doing hurdles,” says Williams. “When I wasn’t going over too high, I was hitting them and I cried and told my coach I didn’t want to do it because I have no future in the event. But my coach and teammates encouraged me to stick with it.”

Promising start

Williams ran 58.96 in his first outing in the event in 2016, which was an encouraging sign for his coach.

“I just told him to go and try the hurdles, and he ran 58 seconds which was satisfying,” said Parchment. “I saw something in him that day but didn’t pressure him and allowed him to continue his distance programme.”

Williams contested the gruelling 400m and 800m double at Champs, but failed to advance to the finals of either event owing to discomfort in his lower back.

His breakthrough season came in 2017. In a nail-biting 400m hurdles final at Champs, Williams finished a close fourth in a lifetime best of 51.78.

Prior to that, Williams had already booked his ticket to represent Jamaica at the Carifta Games in Curacao. There he won his first individual 400m hurdles medal for his country, claiming silver in 52.69 in the U18 section.

It was a remarkable achievement for someone who trains daily under conditions which are far from ideal. His school, for example, doesn’t have a gym, so they use creative ways such as welded cross members and other car parts to do bench press exercises.

“I only have two proper hurdles at my school,” says Williams. “Sometimes I wish I had a full flight to train with so I could go straight around our 300m track and improve my technique and become more efficient. Right now I have to use three truck tyres as substitutes and some makeshift hurdles made from broken benches and old window blades at the school’s woodwork shop.”

Valuable experience

Williams travelled to the IAAF World U18 Championships Nairobi 2017 with high expectations. He looked to be a medal contender after easily winning his heat and advancing to the final with the second-fastest time of the round, 51.94. A series of mishaps in the final ruined his chances of a podium finish and he wound up seventh, but he still gained valuable experience.

“Although I just ran a personal best (49.94) and won gold at Champs 2018, I feel making the world U18 final last year is still my greatest accomplishment to date,” he says. “I wanted to bring home a medal for my country but it just didn’t work out.”

One week after his victory at this year’s Champs, Williams won the Carifta U20 title. He now heads to the IAAF World U20 Championships Tampere 2018 feeling confident that he is faster, stronger and better prepared than he was 12 months ago.

“I’m going there with the aim of running very fast,” says Williams. “I’m planning to run 49.6 seconds and I know that time will be good enough to win a medal.”

Medal or no medal, for someone who turned to athletics as a way of staying out of trouble, Williams has already come a long way.

Noel Francis for the IAAF

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