A?secondary?school that has produced many Olympians welcomed home its baby-faced girl wonder yesterday.
Coleridge and Parry is hoping double CARIFTA medallist Sada Williams adds her name to that list of alumni who will compete on the world’s biggest stage, the Summer Olympics.
The St Peter school brought out the red carpet for its 16-year-old sprint darling yesterday, treating her and schoolmate Triston Gibbons like royalty, and congratulating them for their exploits over the last Easter weekend in Martinique.
Williams earned a gold medal in the Under-18 Girls’ 400 metres and a silver in the 200, calmly beating the mighty Jamaicans to cement her status as one of the globe’s leading juniors in her two pet events. Her personal best time of 53.39 seconds was even faster than 53.84 seconds clocked by the winner of the Under-20 event, Kadecia Baird. Williams was also a bronze medallist in the Under-18 Girls’ 4×400 metres relay.
A packed school hall gave her a standing ovation yesterday. The screams and applause got even louder when a video-presentation of her gold medal performance was showed on a large screen on stage.
“Sada, Sada, Sada,” the students and even some staff screamed.
Principal Vincent Fergusson called Williams a “quiet champion”, noting his prized student was letting her actions do all the talking.
“She embodies the young, strong female our world is looking for. She has a quiet brilliance, and remains humble,” he said. “I’m asking students to take leaves from Sada’s book. Let your deeds do the talking, and you will never be misquoted.”
The principal added that both Williams and Gibbons, who also made his first trip to CARIFTA to compete in the shot put and discus, had smartly used themes made important by the school, such as establishing high goals, and emphasising preparation before taking on any task.
Williams, always smiling, is known to be extremely shy, and rarely speaks. But she did tell her colleagues about her outstanding performance in Martinique, in spite of leaving her prepared speech at home.
“I was so nervous. I was so scared, but my coach [Ramon Armtrsong] told me that’s always a good sign. I couldn’t see why,” Williams said, drawing laughter from her peers.
Williams did relax enough to reveal that much of her nervousness stemmed from being away from home and family for the first time.
“It was the first time I had left Barbados. It was the first time I was even on a plane, so that made me even more nervous,” she said.
The fifth-former was treated to a royal welcome at the school at exactly 9 a.m., arriving in a pearl-white stretch limousine. Scores of students applauded and shouted her name, and two girls walked ahead of the luxury vehicle carrying a banner made in her honour.
Willams, smiling broadly, rolled down the darkly tinted windows of the limo to wave and accept the applause.
The school and several former students presented Williams with tokens of appreciation. Former CARIFTA representative Michael Slocombe led the way, followed by former Barbados Under-19 cricketer Hendy Wallace. Omar Phillips, the Barbados opener, and Renaldo Parris, both former CP alumni, were not in attendance, but had tokens presented on their behalf.
