Charonda Regina Williams (born March 27, 1987) is an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete who competes in the sprint events. She is a

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

specialist and has a personal record of 22.55 seconds. She represented the United States at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

in that event. She also runs in the 100-meter dash and has a best of 11.14 seconds. Williams began taking part in local track and field events after graduating from Gompers High School. She started competing regionally at

Laney College Laney College is a public community college in Oakland, California. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County. Laney College is named after Joseph Clarence Laney. Th ...

and won community college conference titles in the 100- and

es, as well as the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

. She began to study childhood education and family studies at Arizona State University in 2007. In her first outdoor season for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member ...

, she set personal records for the 100 m (11.41 seconds) and 200 m (23.09). She competed at the NCAA Indoor and the NCAA Outdoor Championships that season and won both the

Pac-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

sprint titles. The following year she was 200 m runner-up at the NCAA indoors and was also a

60-meter dash 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior at ...

finalist. She defended her Pac-10 titles, including a personal record run of 11.14 seconds in the 100 m. At the 2009 NCAA Outdoors she was second in the 200 m and sixth in the 100 m. The 2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships saw her set a 200 m best of 22.55 seconds before going on to place fourth in the final. This earned her a place in the American World Championships squad and she was a semi-finalist in the women's 200 m in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

.Williams Charonda
IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-07-15. She did not compete collegiately in 2010 and turned professional instead. She won the 100 m at the Mt. SAC Relays in April and ran the 200 m at the adidas Grand Prix in New York in June. At the USA Outdoor Championships she reached the 200 m but finished last. Williams ran on the

2011 Diamond League The 2011 IAAF Diamond League (also known as the 2011 Samsung Diamond League for sponsorship purposes) was the second edition of the Diamond League, an annual series of fourteen one-day track and field meetings. The series began on 6 May in Doha, Q ...

circuit, including a runner-up finish in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

. She ran a best of 52.71 seconds for the

400-meter dash The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is on ...

in March, but did not perform well at the U.S. Championships, being eliminated in the semi-finals. Williams had a number of good performances in Europe in 2012, including a win at the

FBK Games The FBK Games is an annual track and field event at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Stadion in Hengelo, Netherlands as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1981. Its name honours Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four gold med ...

, podium placings at the

Bislett Games The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. History The first international athletics meeting at Bisl ...

and

Meeting Areva Meeting de Paris (formerly known as the Meeting Areva and Meeting Gaz de France) is an annual track and field meeting at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamon ...

, then a win at the

London Grand Prix The London Diamond League, formerly known as the London Grand Prix and subsequently as the Anniversary Games, is an annual athletics event held in London, England. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Di ...

. She did not gain a place on the Olympic team, however, as she failed to reach the 200 m final at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials. Williams qualified in the 200 meters to the final at the 2013 world championships in Moscow.200 METRES WOMEN - 14TH IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
iaaf.org, retrieved 19 August 2015

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Charonda 1987 births Living people American female sprinters African-American track and field athletes American female track and field athletes Sportspeople from Richmond, California Track and field athletes from California Arizona State Sun Devils women's track and field athletes Diamond League winners 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women