'I always put Jesus first' – Jodean Williams speaks after beating Shericka Jackson at Queen's Grace Jackson Invitational

Jodean Williams stunned Shericka Jackson with a personal best win in the women’s 60m at the Queen’s Grace Jackson Invitational.

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Jodean Williams stunned Shericka Jackson with a personal best win in the women’s 60m at the Queen’s Grace Jackson Invitational.

'I always put Jesus first' – Jodean Williams speaks after beating Shericka Jackson at Queen's Grace Jackson Invitational

Abigael Wafula 19:00 - 28.01.2025

Jodean Williams stunned Shericka Jackson with a personal best win in the women’s 60m at the Queen’s Grace Jackson Invitational.

Shericka Jackson was a favourite to win the women’s 60m at the Queen's Grace Jackson Invitational at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica over the weekend but failed to meet the expectations as she went on to finish second.

The two-time world 200m champion has been out for about six months due to an injury and was just making a return to the track and tons of fans were excited to see her compete.

However, a new name emerged out of the blues, Jodean Williams out of SprintTec Track Club, to take the win in a personal best time of 7.15 seconds.

Shericka had a poor start from the blocks and ended up coming after Williams as she clocked 7.18 seconds.

Williams is slowly coming up in the world of sprinting and narrowly made it to the Olympic team for Paris, France but a mishap in the semifinal saw her finish fourth to miss out on the final.

In the 200m, she reached the final and finished a distant fifth. Both the 100m and 200m races at trials were won by Shericka Jackson.

She admitted that the mistakes made at the trials were silly but one thing about her is the ability to always put in the work and learn from the setbacks.

Speaking about her win at the National Stadium, Williams credited her victory to God, noting that she is very spiritual and has managed to stay under the radar while putting in the work.

She explained that lining up with Shericka was not an easy thing but she was all about believing in herself and focusing on her race and not what other people would say.

"I always put Jesus first as I am a spiritual person; I always call on Him to execute. For me, it is just to stay in my zone," she said as quoted by the Jamaican Star.

"The focus was just on me and my lane, as in training, the mantra is learning to be focused and stay humble. Even after completing a race, I am still focused.”

"Nerves got the better of me in the semi-finals of the 100m at the National Championships last year, as I was really late out of the blocks.”

She further explained that her coach Maurice Wilson and his assistants have been very helpful in ensuring she is focused on her career and not the sideshows.

Asked to describe herself, Williams revealed that her faith in God is her identity and she also enjoys competing on the track, affirming that people should be ready to see her more often on the track.

"I just decide on the flow of things with my coach, as he is the one who makes that decision, and I do trust him,” she revealed.

Meanwhile, Williams started her season at the Central Hurdles and Relay meet, competing in the 400m where she clocked 53.84 seconds.

She now shifts focus to making the team to the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan and beating Shericka is certainly a confidence booster ahead of her campaign.