WILLIAMS Jodie

General
EVENT FOCUS
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, she decided to focus on the 400m instead of the 200m during the 2021 indoor season, and won bronze in the 400m at the 2021 European Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland. "I did my first winter in the UK for five years. It was an experience for me as I forgot how cold it can get but it did mean I could get back to a more traditional way of training for me. This is probably why I've focused more on the 400m for this indoors [season] as it involves a lot of heavier work due to the weather. I don't enjoy the 400m but sometimes we have to do things we don't enjoy, so here we are. I'm just really glad I've proved to myself I can get on podiums again. It's been a lot of ups and downs and a while since I've been on a podium. I knew I had it in me. I have my mojo back. I will focus more on the 200m this year [2021]. I just feel like there is a lot of untapped potential there that I just haven't been able to express yet. I'd like to see that and see what that means time-wise and performance-wise and then I will be exploring the 400m more and more over this year and the coming years I would imagine. For now, the 200m is my baby." (athleticsweekly.com, 04 Mar 2021; theguardian.com, 06 Mar 2021; telegraph.co.uk, 06 Mar 2021; thesportsman.com, 18 Mar 2021)

RIO DISAPPOINTMENT
She says that following the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where she did not make the 200m final, she considered quitting the sport. "I had moved to the US and made this drastic change and everything was geared towards the [2016] Olympics. I really wanted to make the final and I had a very big crash post-Olympics. I really struggled. I was mentally and physically exhausted and was struggling to bounce back. I almost burned out. I had enough and the years caught up on me and I needed a break." She was inspired to return to competition after watching the 2017 World Championships in London, England. "That showed me I still have an immense love for the sport." (telegraph.co.uk, 28 Jun 2019; athleticsweekly.com, 20 Jul 2016)

EARLY DAYS
She says that she struggled to enjoy her junior career as she felt under pressure and alienated from her friends. "I didn't enjoy my success at all as a junior. I was expected to win because that's what I did. I felt a lot of pressure and a lot of isolation from my peers because I was doing something so different from what the rest of my friends and the rest of people my age were doing. I almost resented it. I almost just wanted to be a normal kid and be able to relate to normal kids, but I couldn't because I was in a completely different world. Looking back on it I realise how isolated I was and what scale it was on. It took me a couple of years to come to grips with that and work out how to move on from that. In the couple of years after my junior career I really struggled with injuries, but it was hugely mental. You had agents and other people just throwing money at you - people just wanted to be associated with Jodie Williams. It's difficult to pick through all of that, especially when I was only 16 years old and trying to figure out who I was as a person." (hertfordshiremercury.co.uk, 30 Jun 2014; dailymail.co.uk, 26 May 2013; athleticsweekly.com, 16 Oct 2015; telegraph.co.uk, 28 Jun 2019; jodie-williams.com, 07 Sep 2019)

BASED IN THE UNITED STATES
After spending time training with coach Stuart McMillan in the United States of America, she moved there permanently in 2015, settling in Phoenix, Arizona. "I went to visit his camp for 10 days and that was pretty much it. I gradually spent more and more time there. I'd say the move to Arizona is the only reason I'm still in the sport. There's no traffic, everything is super easy. I'm a big believer in having a calm mind." (bbc.co.uk, 11 Jun 2019; mirror.co.uk, 14 Jul 2019; athleticsweekly.com, 20 Jul 2016; thesportsman.com, 18 Mar 2021)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
She hosts a podcast called '