LONDON, England — Imagine just a slim .03 cm denying someone from achieving their dream.

Well, that was the disappointment that high jumper Kimberley Williamson endured when she came up short of the World Championships qualifying mark of 1.94m and was not selected to Jamaica’s team to London.

But her disappointment turned to happiness when she was subsequently invited by the organisers — the International International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) — to complement their quota of 32 athletes in the event.

The 23-year-old Williamson was ranked 28th in the world and she can hardly believe her luck as she is now in London to represent her country.

“To be honest, my head hasn’t wrapped around it yet. I am happy, because this season my aim was to make it to the World Champs,” Williamson told the Jamaica Observer.

Williamson, who started the year with a personal best of 1.88m, improved it to 1.91m in May, then came to Jamaica and won the Senior Championship with a height of 1.88m.

“It was hard because I knew I had it in me to do it. When I jumped 1.91m, I was with my coach and that was the last meet that he was able to be at,” Williamson explained.

“I was improving in all previous competitions and training leading up to that. So we knew it could have been done,” she added.

The former Edwin Allen High School star, who now attends Kansas State University in the United States, is coached by Cliff Rovelto, who was not able to guide her in her last few meets, including the Jamaican Senior Championships.

“But not having your coach to guide you in a technical event was challenging,” she admitted.

“However, on that quest I faced some challenges, the main one being competing blind. This is the first time I had to compete without my coach being there and doing a technical event that was a challenge I had to learn to deal with,” she said.

After capturing the 2016 NCAA high jump title, Williamson had her sights firmly fixed on making Jamaica’s team to the Olympic Games in Rio, but that never materialised. This time, she is grabbing the opportunity with both hands.

“I am grateful to God for giving me this opportunity to represent my country at this level. It’s kind of like a second chance. my aim is to go out and aim for a personal best because that’s what it is going to take to make it to the finals, which is the ultimate goal,” said Williamson.

Williamson, who has a degree in sociology and criminology, will be in action in the high jump on Day 7 on Thursday, August 10, and will need all of her skills to assist her in this event.

The women’s high jump looks to be a one-horse race as Russian Maria Lasitskene, competing as an Authorised Neutral Athlete because of the ban on her country, has a stranglehold on the event.

Since winning the world high jump title in Beijing two years ago, Lasitskene has won 33 of her 36 competitions indoors and outdoors and arrived in the British capital having a winning streak of 24 competitions.

The 24-year-old Lasitskene is one of the gold medal favourites.

Whether or not Williamson wins or even makes the final, however she is already a winner by just being at the IAAF World Championships.

— Howard Walker