The 2007 World Championships 400m bronze medallist Novlene Williams-Mills is a doting mother as her twin boys Jamari and Jameir Mills became six months old on October 5.

It was significant, as October is deemed Breast Cancer Month and back in 2012, Williams-Mills was diagnosed with breast cancer, but still represented Jamaica at the London Olympics and was a part of the 4x400m relay team that won bronze.

Williams-Mills became an outspoken advocate for breast cancer awareness and action and once said she would run “for all the breast cancer survivors out there”. She retired from athletics in 2017 at the age of 35.

Williams-Mills told the Jamaica Observer that she is “dealing pretty good” with raising children in the novel coronavirus pandemic that has crippled global sports.

“With COVID-19, not much you can do, so I get to spend quality time with them [twins] trying to keep them as safe as possible,” said Williams-Mills.

She posted pictures of her children on Facebook, branding them as “my greatest blessing”.

“I can’t believe our babies are 6 months old already…it has being the greatest 6 months of my life from the smile both of you put on my face every day,” she posted.

The 38-year-old Williams-Mills, who famously anchored Jamaica’s 4x400m to gold at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, thanked her husband Jameel Mills for her two bundles of joy.

“Thanks for taking this parent journey with me because we are enjoying our little ones, you make parenting so much easier. I still can’t believe I have twins. God sure blessed me when He gave me both of you,” she emphasised.

Williams-Mills, who was born in St Ann but now resides in Florida, has been Jamaica’s standard-bearer in the 400m for a number of years and has led the team to four Olympic relay medals and six medals at the World Championships.

The former Ferncourth High School student also won relay gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and was a part of the Americas’ team that struck gold at the Continental Cup.

— Howard Walker