by Stuart Weir
Jodie Williams in Paris, her third Olympics
Paris was such an interesting one because it was such a different experience. For me, I’ve. I have only once been to a championship, just for a relay. Umm, it’s not something I particularly have ever enjoyed doing. And like I said, I think I’ve only ever done it once, and in any other years that I’ve had that’s unfolded, I’ve turned down the position. But for me, in 2024, nothing was going right. I was running very, very poorly throughout the season. I was really struggling mentally. Knowing that I was also coming to the end of my career, it was hard to push through to the end, especially an event as brutal as the 400. It’s challenging to push through when it’s not going right.
And the 400 was just hurting in a way that they had never really hurt me like that before. I was having some weird symptoms going on in my body. So it was mentally challenging for me that year, even getting to the end of a 400. Every time I stood in line, I didn’t want to be there, and it was just really hard, very hard, and very painful. And again, pure grit dragged me through. I had spoken to the selectors before, and they were very much like, ‘We need to see something very, very big from you at this champs.’
I managed to pull something out of the bag enough for them to consider me, and then we ended up with that medal with all 8 girls on the podium, and it was just a unique experience. And for me, it just meant that because I was just there for a relay and I’m one of the older, more experienced athletes, it was a very different role than I’m used to playing, and it was a blessing. Honestly, it was so great to experience it from a different side. Obviously, there’s still pressure, but I knew there was less pressure on me than in an individual event, so I felt like I could give the younger athletes a little more time to be a bit more of a guide. And just to really enjoy it for myself. Honestly, it was my most enjoyable Olympics by far. So, it was a great experience and a way to close things out.
The 2020 (or really 2021) Games had been such strange ones. For me, that was – I don’t want to say closure – but it was almost an affirmation of the athlete that I always thought I was, but I had never really managed to pull it off. So much of this sport is timing and luck on your side – those things have never really been on my side. I think I’ve always had the talent, and I’ve always been a very hard worker, but a lot of things just didn’t work out… just the timing wasn’t there for me, or I was overthinking things a lot of the time.
So 2021 was just one of those years, and I think any athlete will tell you that sometimes you just have those years where everything is beautifully aligned. Everything just went perfectly for me, even all the way from medaling at European Indoors against obviously great caliber athletes and then carrying that momentum outdoors. That season, nothing went wrong, which is unheard of, especially for an athlete like me, and there were a lot of near misses. Yes, I was carrying injuries through that whole year that just never entirely went over the edge, so I was really, really lucky. In previous years, I’d had similar injuries that I was nursing, then one race took me out, and I had managed to finish the season. So, I think 2021 was just one of those beautifully aligned seasons for me. I think I only had two in my career. 2014 and 2021, where things just went to plan. And for me, that Olympic final race was just like an affirmation that, OK, we weren’t delusional, like, you actually are this good. You do belong racing this caliber of athletes, which settled something in my spirit.
Just making this final alone, in a new event, and I’d only run four 400s before that year, I stepped up and medalled indoors and then was an Olympic finalist with two back-to-back 49s. I’d pulled a performance out of the bag when it mattered most every time. At the time, I was gutted that it wasn’t enough to get that medal, which would have been such a nice end to such a great season, but I really couldn’t be upset. I went for it, risked it, went out strong, and didn’t have the legs.
That you got your PR in Tokyo in the Olympic final (and previously your 200 PR in a European final) says something about your ability to produce it when it matters.
I’ve always been a championship performer. And as it came to the end of my career, I became even more so. So I’ve always been someone who needs a bit of pressure, and I just need something on the line to pull it out of the bag, especially in the 400. But I always found that my most excellent performances, if you look at most seasons, my season’s best will always be when it matters at trials and the championships. And it could be a bit risky, for sure. I’ve always been that athlete. Sometimes, I just struggled to find the other races. I’m someone who really needs a reason to be doing things, and I need to be very passionate to be able to pull something out sometimes. For Diamond Leagues, I’m just not motivated. Money and stuff haven’t ever motivated me. So, I just struggled to perform in those races when nothing was at stake other than money.
Watch Jodie Williams talk more about the Paris Olympics
