The 28-year-old was grateful for the welcome after the pressure of the previous week’s trials.
“In the final, looking back, I felt very rigid. I was focused and excited, but I felt like I had a job to do, which I did,” she said. “But it took away from the joy I had for the sport and the gratitude for all the work I did. I mean, this dream took 10 years to come true.”
This approach, she said, “has not been helpful to me.”
She needed to reset mentally, and she pushed that button for Sunday’s final competition. “As soon as Sunday came around for the final, it was a new day and everyone was level from the start of the meet to the start of the competition,” she said.
Her second readjustment was to stop trying to control everything and just go out and “do what I knew I could do,” she said.
“I promised myself, my coach and my family that I would not give up or waste any of my attempts in the finals, and I didn’t,” she said with determination. “I jumped cleanly every jump until I made this team.” Williams ultimately cleared 15 feet, 6 1/4 inches to finish first.
The mental and the physical
Williams said 80 percent of pole vaulting is about mindset and it may be the only athletic event where fear is present. But it’s not about fear of heights.
“I think for me, if I had to answer that question, it would be to get off the ground,” she said. “Forcing yourself to get off the ground can be the scariest or hardest part to do.”
Pole vaulters have 60 seconds to complete their jumps, but Williams said the run-up and jump itself take about 10 seconds, leaving time to work.
“Sometimes it’s crucial, because if the winds aren’t right, you know, you can kind of pick your timing,” she said.
