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If Williams makes the British team then at a flash of light will be at the end of that tunnel... Usain Bolt.
Did Williams really beat the cream of Jamaica juniors at Champs? Yes and no, he beat the ISSA Champ but it appears that the International Champs ran from a beaten. The kid also wants a World junior title. Maybe Skeen and Todd can run but they can't hide.
London 2012 Olympics: Turks and Caicos sprint sensation Delano Williams becomes latest Team GB recruit
Delano Williams, a teenage sprint prodigy from the Turks and Caicos islands, is to become the latest overseas athlete to seek selection for the British Olympic team this summer after receiving his UK passport just four days ago.
Welcome return: Delano Williams, who hopes to compete for Team GB at the 2012 Olympics, has visited Britain just once before on a holiday to London Photo: REUTERS
By Simon Hart
10:04AM BST 03 Apr 2012
54 Comments
In a move that is certain to reignite the ‘Plastic Brit’ controversy that overshadowed last month’s World Indoor Championships, Williams has confirmed that he will be flying to Britain for the Olympic trials in June, where he is confident of claiming one of three available spots in the 200 metres.
Aged only 18, he already has the 200m Olympic ‘A’ qualifying standard after clocking 20.53sec at a low-key meeting in Jamaica in February.
“I’m very confident,” he said. “I’ve been training hard and everything has been going great so I think I should be one of those who makes the Olympic team.
“I think I can go quicker. When I ran 20.53 I hadn’t been doing any sprinting training. I was just doing a lot of background training and my core work. I definitely think I can go faster.”
11 Mar 2012
Williams is studying in Jamaica and underlined his potential at the weekend by beating the cream of Jamaica’s young sprint talent to triumph in both the 100m and 200m at the national high school championships.
His speed has already caught the eye of Glen Mills, the coach of triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt, who has invited him to join his Racers Club training stable.
However, Williams’ only route to the Olympics is to compete in a British vest because the Turks and Caicos does not have its own Olympic committee and therefore cannot send a team to the Games.
The tiny Caribbean archipelago is a British Overseas Territory whose citizens are entitled to full UK passports.
Williams, who has visited Britain just once before on a holiday to London, announced in January that he had applied for his passport in the hope of competing at the Olympics and the document arrived last Friday.
“I was really, really excited when I got the passport,” he said. “I felt, ‘I’m a British citizen now’.”
Williams is now fully eligible to compete for Britain in London because, under the rules of the International Association of Athletics Federations, athletes from dependent territories are permitted to switch allegiance to the parent country with immediate effect.
Bizarrely, IAAF rules permit the athlete to continue representing the dependent country at other championships outside the Olympics, and Williams confirmed that he plans to compete against Britain for Turks and Caicos at the World Junior Championships in Barcelona in July.
“I have a regional title but I do not have a world title and this is my last year at the World Juniors so I really want to compete there,” he said.
Williams’ situation is identical to that of Shara Proctor, the world indoor long jump bronze medallist, who switched allegiance to Britain from Anguilla – another dependent territory that is not permitted to send its own team to the Olympics.
“In order for me to compete at the Olympics I must go under the British because we are under British rule,” said Williams, who added that sports officials in Turks and Caicos were fully behind his switch.
“They wouldn’t want to stop my dream of going to the Olympics so they have made a decision to let me go and represent the UK at the Olympics. It will be a privilege to represent Great Britain at the Olympics.”
UK Athletics said it would not comment on Williams’ case until it had verified his eligibility but, if he meets the selection criteria, there will be nothing to stop him competing at the trials in Birmingham from June 22-24.
However, his presence may not be popular with some of Britain’s home-grown sprinters who could miss out on an Olympic spot.
British favourites Marlon Devonish and Christian Malcolm will be among his key rivals, along with Leon Baptiste, Danny Talbot and James Ellington, who auctioned himself on eBay to raise funds for his Olympic campaign.
Did Williams really beat the cream of Jamaica juniors at Champs? Yes and no, he beat the ISSA Champ but it appears that the International Champs ran from a beaten. The kid also wants a World junior title. Maybe Skeen and Todd can run but they can't hide.
London 2012 Olympics: Turks and Caicos sprint sensation Delano Williams becomes latest Team GB recruit
Delano Williams, a teenage sprint prodigy from the Turks and Caicos islands, is to become the latest overseas athlete to seek selection for the British Olympic team this summer after receiving his UK passport just four days ago.
Welcome return: Delano Williams, who hopes to compete for Team GB at the 2012 Olympics, has visited Britain just once before on a holiday to London Photo: REUTERSBy Simon Hart
10:04AM BST 03 Apr 2012
54 CommentsIn a move that is certain to reignite the ‘Plastic Brit’ controversy that overshadowed last month’s World Indoor Championships, Williams has confirmed that he will be flying to Britain for the Olympic trials in June, where he is confident of claiming one of three available spots in the 200 metres.
Aged only 18, he already has the 200m Olympic ‘A’ qualifying standard after clocking 20.53sec at a low-key meeting in Jamaica in February.
“I’m very confident,” he said. “I’ve been training hard and everything has been going great so I think I should be one of those who makes the Olympic team.
“I think I can go quicker. When I ran 20.53 I hadn’t been doing any sprinting training. I was just doing a lot of background training and my core work. I definitely think I can go faster.”
11 Mar 2012
Williams is studying in Jamaica and underlined his potential at the weekend by beating the cream of Jamaica’s young sprint talent to triumph in both the 100m and 200m at the national high school championships.
His speed has already caught the eye of Glen Mills, the coach of triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt, who has invited him to join his Racers Club training stable.
However, Williams’ only route to the Olympics is to compete in a British vest because the Turks and Caicos does not have its own Olympic committee and therefore cannot send a team to the Games.
The tiny Caribbean archipelago is a British Overseas Territory whose citizens are entitled to full UK passports.
Williams, who has visited Britain just once before on a holiday to London, announced in January that he had applied for his passport in the hope of competing at the Olympics and the document arrived last Friday.
“I was really, really excited when I got the passport,” he said. “I felt, ‘I’m a British citizen now’.”
Williams is now fully eligible to compete for Britain in London because, under the rules of the International Association of Athletics Federations, athletes from dependent territories are permitted to switch allegiance to the parent country with immediate effect.
Bizarrely, IAAF rules permit the athlete to continue representing the dependent country at other championships outside the Olympics, and Williams confirmed that he plans to compete against Britain for Turks and Caicos at the World Junior Championships in Barcelona in July.
“I have a regional title but I do not have a world title and this is my last year at the World Juniors so I really want to compete there,” he said.
Williams’ situation is identical to that of Shara Proctor, the world indoor long jump bronze medallist, who switched allegiance to Britain from Anguilla – another dependent territory that is not permitted to send its own team to the Olympics.
“In order for me to compete at the Olympics I must go under the British because we are under British rule,” said Williams, who added that sports officials in Turks and Caicos were fully behind his switch.
“They wouldn’t want to stop my dream of going to the Olympics so they have made a decision to let me go and represent the UK at the Olympics. It will be a privilege to represent Great Britain at the Olympics.”
UK Athletics said it would not comment on Williams’ case until it had verified his eligibility but, if he meets the selection criteria, there will be nothing to stop him competing at the trials in Birmingham from June 22-24.
However, his presence may not be popular with some of Britain’s home-grown sprinters who could miss out on an Olympic spot.
British favourites Marlon Devonish and Christian Malcolm will be among his key rivals, along with Leon Baptiste, Danny Talbot and James Ellington, who auctioned himself on eBay to raise funds for his Olympic campaign.
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