• European Indoor Championships

Williams not dazzled by the big stage

Jodie Williams showed her class with victory in the UK trials © PA Photos

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British sprint sensation Jodie Williams is vowing not to get sucked into the heat of senior competition in order to ensure she fulfils her potential.

At 17, Williams is one of the brightest sprinting talents to emerge in Britain for some time and there are high hopes for her at the 2012 Olympics and beyond.

She racked up a staggering 151 consecutive wins in junior races before bursting on to the senior scene when taking the British 60m title in the UK trials in a personal best of 7.24 seconds.

The win in Sheffield has not gone to Williams' head as she will concentrate on her A Levels and the European Junior Championships in 2011 - defying GB head coach Charles van Commenee who had wanted her to race in the World Championships in Korea.

The decision to swerve the World Championships was a joint decision by Williams, her parents and coach, and it is one the teenager is comfortable with.

"I don't want to be another name along the list of juniors who have fizzled out too soon," Williams said ahead of her next step on the ladder at the European Indoor Championships in Paris at the weekend. "I want to be the name that breaks through.

"I want to focus on the here and now and not get too carried away with everything. I've got plenty of time to compete. I'm still young and having fun with it."

Williams has a real shot at causing an upset in Paris and she is not fazed by the prospect of taking on the best Europe has to offer.

"Being here is not that much different from junior competitions, which is quite good," she said. "I thought it might be a bit more tense. I'm less nervous if anything because I don't feel too much pressure on me. Competing at junior competitions I'm there at the top, expected to perform."

Looking to the rest of the year, she added: "I'd like to run a few more senior competitions this year, maybe in England and Europe, to get used to the environment a bit more, but I don't want to make too big a jump up. I want to do it gradually."

Dwain Chambers has been offering advice to Williams and he will be a key player in Paris, with the Brit taking on home favourite Christophe Lemaitre in the 60m.

"This is a great opportunity to race him (Lemaitre) again and match myself up against the best in Europe," Chambers, who was beaten by his French rival in the European Championships last season, said. "We're also both pretty much equal time-wise, so it will be very exciting.

"When you've got crowd support behind you it obviously helps build your confidence and your spirits for when you're on the start line, but it can go two ways.

"It can go for or against him. We're not going to know until the gun goes and we'll see how well he holds his head. The person with the strongest head is the one that will prevail."

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