Jodie Williams hoping to catch rivals napping after making final

Golden girl: Britain’s Jodie Williams celebrates after winning the 100m
Marco Giacomelli13 April 2012

British sprinter Jodie Williams was "absolutely shattered" after recording her 151st consecutive victory to reach the final of tonight's women's 200metres at the IAAF World Junior Championships.

The 16-year-old from Hertfordshire has already bagged the 100m title in Moncton, Canada and is the clear favourite to secure a double. Williams has not lost in five years and is the fastest among tonight's field with a personal best of 22.79sec. She is one of only two women to run under 23 seconds.

However, she was made to work hard last night, winning her semifinal in 23.20 sec, just 0.1 sec in front of Holland's Jamile Samuel.

"I'm absolutely shattered and I'm going straight to bed when I get in and I'll sleep all day," said Williams last night. "I was coming round the bend and they were pushing me but I just needed to get there to have the confidence going into the final."

Victory tonight, the race starts at 12.25am UK time, would see her emulate her feat at last year's World Youth Championships in Italy, where she claimed 100m and 200m gold.

In Canada last night, Laura Samuel and Andrew Sutcliffe added to Great Britain's medal tally with success in the triple jump and pole vault respectively.

Samuel broke her own UK junior record with a 13.75m effort in round four to finish second. She said: "I was ranked fifth so I was targeting a bronze but I've got silver now -it feels absolutely amazing."

Sutcliffe won bronze in the men's pole vault with an outdoor lifetime best performance of 5.35m.

"It has still not sunk in yet," said Sutcliffe. "I wasn't expecting to get a medal, well, I knew I was capable of it but I wasn't sure I could do it."

Meanwhile, Tyson Gay was disappointed despite winning the 200m in a meeting record 19.72sec at the Monaco Diamond League event.

The 27-year-old was poised for an easy victory after leading off the bend until Jamaican Yohan Blake, running in lane eight, came blazing down the home straight and almost closed the gap on the American.

"I ran too wide in the corner, I slipped a bit. I wanted to run faster," said the 2007 world champion.

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