AFTER two successful years at Florida State University, former Vere Technical High school jumper, Kimberly Williams, has finally made the big leap.

In Berlin, she will compete in the triple jump for the first time at a major championships.

Williams, who has represented the country at Carifta, World Youth and Pan Am Cham-pionships, will be competing alongside the 2005 world champion Trecia Smith in the triple jump as, for the first time, the country will have two competitors in this event at a major championships.

At the National Senior Championships in June, Williams booked her ticket to Berlin by finishing second to Smith with 14.04 metres to achieve the "B" standard and with Smith already achieving the 'A' standard, she was also included as the new rules provided for this.

Biggest moment

While this will be her biggest moment, she will be going into the championships knowing that she has had two years of competition at the collegiate level where she has excelled. After finishing fourth a year ago in the triple jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Williams has gone from strength to strength and she just concluded her sophomore year at the Florida institution. She has been unbeaten all season in her pet event as she copped both indoor and outdoor titles this year.

She displayed her versatility during the 2009 season as, after only competing in the long jump at the college level, for the first time this season she won the event at the outdoor championships with a wind-aided 6.54 metres.

In winning both events, she became one of the few athletes in history to cop the double at these championships and, although her winning leap of 14.38 metres for the triple jump was wind-aided, she turned up at the Jamaica National Championships two weeks later to maintain her good form to qualify for Berlin.

Although her personal best is not close to the top jumpers who will be competing in Berlin, the good thing for Williams is that she will have Smith to motivate her during the championships and there is every possibility that she could force herself into the top 12 or she could jump to a personal best which could set the stage for years to come.