By Brando Hayden, Munro College Track and Field Team Manager (2006-2015).

In track and field, the term “short sprinter” refers to an athlete who runs both the 100m and the 200m. By the numbers, Munro’s Delano Williams remains the greatest combination short sprinter in Jamaica’s Champs history.

When looking at combination sprinting achievements, two methods have always been used. The first is to compare sprinters by looking at the average of their best legal times across both sprint events and the second is to draw a comparison by way of a total score using the Official IAAF Event Scoring Tables. In the first instance, the lower average indicates the better result, and in the second, the better result is indicated by the higher score. We will utilize both.

Delano’s 2013 times, in the Class I 100m and 200m finals, of 10.28 and 20.27 produced the lowest average, 15.275, of any sprinter to have competed in the metric and electronic era at Champs. Bearing in mind the fact that the great Usain Bolt did not compete in the 100m event as a schoolboy, Delano’s closest rival, using this measure, would be heir apparent Yohan Blake, who clocked 10.21 and 20.62 to win the Class I 100m and 200m finals in 2007. Blake’s average was 15.415.

If we were to use the Official IAAF Event Scoring Tables to compare Williams and Blake, we would get the following results:

Williams

10.28 = 1112

20.27 = 1178

For a total of 1190

Blake

10.21 = 1135

20.62 = 1124

For a total of 1159

To be clear, several others have, prior to and since, run faster than both Williams and Blake in either the 100m or the 200m, but no one athlete has approached either sprinter in the combination of the two short sprint events. Both Williams and Blake are far ahead of a long list of quality sprinters who invariably performed much better in one short sprint event over the other.

Delano’s mark on Champs history goes way beyond the numbers. His performances were electric and brought tremendous excitement to the Championships, winning the Class I 200m three years in a row and the class I 100m twice, a feat bettered only by legendary Olympian and Fortician, Lennox “Billy” Miller in 1965, 28 years before he was born. Miller won both Class I short sprint events three years in a row from 1963-65.

In addition to his short sprint dominance, Delano was also well known for his 400m prowess, but his best exploits over that distance occurred at relay meets, while at Champs he concentrated mostly on the short sprint double. The track and field analysts who watched him dominate the 200m at Champs, however, were all too well aware of his 400m speed endurance coming into play in the final 50 metres.

Williams was also well loved by local track and field audiences for his humility, plus his trademark Munro politeness and articulate responses during press interviews.

Delano also has the rare distinction of returning to Champs 2013 as a World Junior Champion, having won the 200m event at the Barcelona Championships in 2012.

Born in the Turks & Caicos Islands, Delano now competes for Great Britain and won his first global medal under that flag at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. He ran the second leg on the mile relay team that took the bronze medal.

Munronians near and far salute Delano Livingston Williams, an icon for the city on the hill, in the country most passionate about sprinting.