London, England — The close bond formed between Vere Technical High school teammates Kimberly Williams and Shanieka Thomas-Ricketts has propelled both to the final of the women’s triple jump.

Williams was third in Group A with a leap of 14.14m and was ninth overall, while Thomas-Ricketts was fourth in Group B with 14.21m and was sixth best into the final set for tomorrow.

“We have been teammates for a little while since Vere days then we went to different universities, so I have been competing against her all that time. And it is very nice to have her out there and she is gonna bring and I am gonna bring it,” said Williams.

She continued: “We cheer for each other, but we have to be a little bit selfish because she wants to do good and I want to do good, but at the same time we have to give each other that push.”

The 28-year-old Williams competed in Group A and had jumps of 14.09m, a fouled effort, and 14.14m on her final effort and missed the automatic qualifying mark of 14.20m.

Williams, who is attending her fifth World Championships, had to wait nervously to see what was happening in the other group that was competing simultaneously.

“I am very pleased that I have made it to the finals because the objective today was come out and get the big Q. But I didn’t get the big Q, I got the small q, but I am grateful and thankful for that,” said Williams.

“After the first jump, I started to overthink a bit and maybe that’s why I fouled… along with the wind because it changed from in my face to my back. But I will be ready for Monday night,” she promised.

One of the gold medal favourites, Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela, won Group A with 14.52m with Susana Costa of Portugal second with 14.35m. Five athletes advanced from that group to the final.

Meanwhile, the lanky 25-year-old Thomas-Ricketts, who is coached by her husband Kerry Lee Ricketts, took just two jumps to qualify from Group B. She opened with 13.93m then booked her spot after soaring to 14.21m, which was above the qualifying mark.

Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan took top honours with a leap of 14.57m. Patricia Mamona of Portugal was second with 14.29m, and defending champion Caterine Ibarguen of Colombia eased through with 14.21m with her first jump.

Thomas-Ricketts wanted to do the same and qualified with her first jump but had to get the job done with her second effort.

“The first jump was not as good as I wanted it to be. I wanted to qualify from the first attempt, but then I had to go back and do the second attempt and I got 14.21. And I am pleased with it because it was the automatic qualifier and I was just looking to go into the finals and do my best,” said Thomas-Ricketts.

“There is a lot of nerves in the first round; I feel like it’s actually harder than the finals. But I will go back with coach Kerry Lee Ricketts and he will instruct me on where I need to tighten up to make sure I do better in the finals. I am looking forward to it, I like the challenge,” she added.

— Howard Walker