Newly crowned Jamaica 800m champion Kelly-Ann Beckford is riding a wave of confidence after producing the performance of her life at the national athletics championships last month.

The 25-year-old delivered a stunning run to claim her first women’s 800m title in a personal best time of 2:00.23 minutes. Though the time fell just outside the World Championships qualifying standard of 1:59.00, Beckford’s performance was a powerful statement of intent, a clear signal she is inching closer to world-class territory.

“I think that I am definitely right there, but I just have to continue training hard and focus on what I am doing,” she said. “Training is pretty hard because I am doing a lot of stuff that I am not used to, but I am trusting my coaches, I am trusting myself and so it is going pretty good.”

Beckford, who trains under the guidance of renowned coach Stephen Francis at the MVP Track Club, noted that the hard work is starting to pay off.

“It is something that I have been wanting over the years and so I am pretty happy about it. It was a tough event, but I was aiming for a fierce pace and finished the race strong and that’s what I did, so I am very happy about that.”

Beckford is the second fastest Jamaican in the 800m behind 10-time former national champion Natoya Goule-Toppin whom she defeated to claim the title.

Beckford, who graduated from the University of Houston last year, is in her first season at the senior level.

Despite narrowly missing the qualifying standard, Beckford remains upbeat about her chances of dipping below the mark in the coming weeks.

“My goal this season is to go below two minutes, and I am in pretty good shape right now. I trust myself that I will achieve it, and the work that I am putting in training tells me that I am on course to achieving that goal this season.”

She added that training alongside some of the country’s top athletes at MVP, including sprinters Kishane Thompson and Shericka Jackson, helps to push her to reach the next level.

“I feel like it is pretty motivating because every day you see these big stars, and so it just pushes you to go hard in practice and you just want to be one of them.”

Making her first senior national team and running a lifetime best has left Beckford more determined than ever to keep improving.

“This has motivated me to go back to training and train harder and come back stronger, because I am happy that I was able to run a personal best and make my first senior team,” she said.