Tonique Williams

Tonique Williams winning (Google)

Since I was a little girl, running has made me feel energized, free, healthy, powerful, and proud of my effort when I won the race. I like to watch the Olympics games and I'm always impressed by the great runners. One of them is Tonique Williams, she is from Bahamas. "She attended the University of South Carolina and graduated with a degree from the Moore School of Business in 1999." She won the gold medal in the 400 meters in the 2004 summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, in a time of 49.41 seconds. She held off stiff competition from Mexico’s Ana Guevara, who finished in 49.56 seconds. That was her first goal. In 2004 she was the most successful athlete of the year.

Tonique Williams running (Google)

Bahamian Prime Minister Perry Christie said, “It was a stupendous victory and a historic one at that for it marks the very first time in Olympic history that a woman from the Caribbean has won a gold medal in an individual track event.”

My hero, Tonique Williams, has impressed me because she beat Ana Guevara, one of the best Mexican athletes. Tonique's training is very rigorous and very consistent. She is very self-confident and she has encouraged other athletes with her basic principles, which she said helped her get through the tough times to become a world champion.

“It’s what we call old people’s saying, but it’s…'hard work pays off',” said Williams. “So don’t be afraid of the hard work that you may have to endure to get to your dreams.” Tonique admitted that there were many times when she wanted to give up and walk away, but with the encouragement and persistence of those around her, who would push her to move forward, she stuck with it.

Williams then told the athletes to always be consistent -- “No athlete gets to the top without being consistent.” This young female sprint sensation also reminded young athletes to remain focused on their academics. She said that hard work and consistency should also be applied to their school work at all times. This is good advice for junior athletes like me. When I feel depressed with my performance or feel that I am not reaching my goals, I HAVE TO PUSH PAST THOSE TIMES.

Tonique encourages me to become an excellent track and field athlete and I will try to emulate some of her characteristics: tolerance, courage, responsibility and discipline. I want to be an excellent runner; I WILL WORK HARD to reach my dreams like she did.