Barbados’ quartermiler queen Sada Williams concluded the 2023 track and field season as the third-ranked female 400 metre athlete in the world.
In the end-of-season world rankings released by World Athletics, the global governing body for athletics, Williams secured her position with 1381 points.
She was outshone only by the World Champion, Marileidy Paulino (1470) of the Dominican Republic and Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek (1437), who copped silver at the World Championships.
The 25-year-old Williams brought the curtains down on her exceptional season by earning a bronze in the women’s 400m at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in August.
It was her second bronze at the Championships, building upon her third-place finish from the previous year.
Williams made history by establishing a new national 400m record, clocking an impressive 49.58 seconds in the semifinals in Budapest, erasing her old mark of 49.75, which was set at the 2022 World Championship in Eugene, Oregon.
Her remarkable achievements have solidified her status as Barbados’ best hope to secure the country’s second Olympic medal at the 2024 Olympiad.
Williams was also the first athlete from the island to directly qualify for the Paris Games.
In the overall global ranking of female athletes, Williams had to settle for the 70th position, with Faith Kipyegon leading all female athletes worldwide.
The Kenyan 1500m and 5000m world champion topped the table ahead of the likes of 200m World Champion Shericka Jackson of Jamaica and hurdler Famke Bol of the Netherlands.
(RT)
