With just three weeks to go before the 43rd Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, 15-year-old Toni-Ann Williams is all fired up to represent Jamaica.

At United Gymnastix in Maryland where she trains, Toni-Ann’s 5ft-1in frame is put through the rigours to get every skill right. Nothing else will suffice, for she will be up against the world’s best.

A Level 10 gymnast, Toni-Ann flips, twists and somersaults with extraordinary agility and finesse, highlighting her strengths on the vault and beam in particular, and on the floor in general.

Though born in the United States, she is “very proud of her Jamaican heritage,” said her mother Marlene Hylton-Williams, a sister of former minister of foreign trade Anthony Hylton.

“The impending responsibility of representing an entire nation is adding to her determination; it’s not a role she is taking light-heartedly,” Hylton-Williams added.

With her competitive season usually beginning in December in the US, Toni-Ann have had to “step it up”, working on full sets of all events earlier than usual.

But that is no setback for the student of the all-female, Baltimore-based, Roland Park County School.

“Toni-Ann has always been intense when it comes to her gymnastics, even since she was a beginner,” explained her mom.

“For example on the days that she vaults, she doesn’t tumble on the competitive floor, as both endeavours are very high impact for her legs. She may instead use the trampoline track for tumbling and dance through her floor exercise routines. She is working full sets on bars and beam almost every day,” stated Hylton-Williams.

Blessed with a repertoire of skills, some with varying degrees of difficulty, Toni-Ann is expected to arrive a week before the October 7-16 World Championships. Podium training will begin on October 3 in Tokyo, with vault and uneven bars finals on October 15 and beam and floor exercise finals for October 16.

With gymnastics requiring strength, balance and body control, Toni-Ann is training more 24 hours a week.

While her coach Mladen Stefanov, a Bulgarian, insists that top-level gymnasts spend time working on basic skills, he also does specific event training for two and 1/2 hours.

“Generally, she isolates the skills she will be competing for several turns, and then does a few full routines with the skills inserted. If she is having trouble with a specific skill, she works on that until it is right. Toni-Ann is very efficient,” explained Hylton-Williams.

Apart from Toni-Ann, 17-year-old Jaida Lawrence based in Connecticut, will also represent Jamaica at next month’s Gymnastics World Championships.