Running News Daily

Jamaica's 17-year-old Briana Williams will face Allyson Felix at Millrose Games

Jamaica's 17-year-old sprint sensation Briana Williams is listed to compete in the women's 60m at the 113th NYRR Millrose Games, scheduled for Saturday, February 8 at the Armory Track & Field Center in New York.

Williams, who is based in Florida, will take on a strong field with five Olympians led by  American Allyson Felix, arguably the most accomplished athlete in track and field. Felix is a six-time Olympic gold medalist and 13-time world champion.

After giving birth to her daughter in November 2018, Felix returned to competition this past season, winning a gold medal on the mixed 4x400m relay at the Doha World Championships to surpass Usain Bolt as the most decorated athlete in the history of the sport.

The Millrose Games will be the third meet that Williams is confirmed for since being found of 'no-fault' from the Independent Anti-Doping Panel in September following a positive drug test.

She took an over-the-counter flu remedy at the Jamaican trial in June which had the banned diuretic Hydrochlorothiazide in its components. The young sprinter then decided in September to withdraw from the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, a competition she had qualified for at the Jamaican trials.

At the trials, Williams had the best race of her young career, finishing third at 100m in a wind-legal time of 10.94 (+0.6) seconds, which broke the national junior record -- though World Athletics did not ratify the effort, nullifying a potential World U18 record. Still, she became just the second high school athlete to ever break the elusive 11-second mark. 

Williams will also face Teahna Daniels, the 2019 USA champion in the 100 m. Daniels had a breakout season in 2019, dipping under the 11-second barrier with a personal best of 10.99, before making the final in Doha where she finished seventh. Also joining the field is Morolake Akinosun, a former four-time NCAA champion. Akinosun also won an Olympic gold medal on the Rio 4x100m relay, competing alongside Felix for Team USA.

Defending Millrose champion English Gardner and Deajah Stevens, a former NCAA champion who competed in the 200m at the Rio Olympics are also in the field.

Williams will open her season on January 11 in South Carolina, USA followed by the Queen's School/Grace Jackson Invitational in Kingston, Jamaica on January 25, both also over 60m.