Novlene Hilaire Williams-Mills (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'', Williams; born 26 April 1982), is a retired Jamaican

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 events ...

athlete. She won the bronze medal in the 400 metres at the 2007 World Championships. She is also a three-time Olympic silver medallist in the 4×400 metres relay. In 2015 she won relay gold alongside her Jamaican teammates.

Early life

Williams-Mills was born in

Saint Ann According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come ...

, Jamaica. She is a graduate of Ferncourt High School, located in Claremont, St. Ann Parish, Jamaica. She attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where she was a member of coach Tom Jones'

Florida Gators track and field The Florida Gators track and field program represents the University of Florida in the sport of track and field. The program includes separate men's and women's teams, both of which compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Ass ...

team. She graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree in 2004. In March 2020, Williams-Mills announced that she was pregnant with Twins.

Athletics career

At the

2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first IAAF ...

, she won (together with

Shericka Williams Shericka Williams (born 17 September 1985 in Black River, St. Elizabeth) is a Jamaican former sprinter. Together with Novlene Williams, Ronetta Smith and Lorraine Fenton she won a silver medal in 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2005 World Champio ...

Ronetta Smith Ronetta Smith (born 2 May 1980) is a Jamaican sprinter. Career A 400m runner with a personal best of 51.23 (set in May 2005), Smith has never reached an international final in an individual race. However, she was a part of the J ...

and

Lorraine Fenton Lorraine Fenton (born Lorraine Graham on 8 September 1973 in Manchester) is a retired Jamaican athlete who specialized in the 400 metres. Career Her career highlight came when she won the Olympic silver medal in 2000, being the first Jamaican ...

) a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

. At the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, she received a bronze medal for her third-place finish in the

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

. At the

2012 Olympic games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, Williams-Mills won a silver medal in the 4×400 meter relay. She also placed 5th in the individual 400 m event. Williams-Mills missed most of the 2013 season due to undergoing treatment for breast cancer. During the 2014 season, Williams-Mills was very successful. Early in the season, she and three other Jamaican women won a silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 2014 world relays. Williams-Mills competed at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and won a silver medal in the individual 400 m and a gold in the 4 × 400 m relay, setting a games record in the latter. She was also successful at

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

meets, where she was crowned the

2014 Diamond League The 2014 IAAF Diamond League was the fifth edition of the annual Diamond League. It consisted of fourteen one-day track and field meetings, starting on May 9, 2014 in Doha, Qatar and ending on September 5, 2014 in Brussels, Belgium. Other events w ...

champion in the 400 m. In 2015, Williams-Mills again won a silver medal at the world relays as part of the Jamaican 4 × 400 m team. At the

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, Williams-Mills finished sixth in the 400 m final involving four Jamaican women. In the relay, along with

Christine Day Christine Day (born 23 August 1986) is a Jamaican sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. She represented Jamaica at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the individual 400m and in the 4x400 metre relay. Day was eliminated in the semifinals of the ...

Shericka Jackson Shericka Jackson, OD (born 16 July 1994) is a Jamaican Sprint (running), sprinter competing in the 100 metres, 100 m, 200 metres, 200 m, and 400 metres, 400 metres. She is the fastest woman alive and second fastest woman of all time in ...

and

Stephenie Ann McPherson Stephenie Ann McPherson (born 25 November 1988) is a Jamaican track and field athlete, who specializes in the 400 metres. She has won a bronze medal in the event at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, 2013 World Championships, and then p ...

, the individual 4th, 3rd and 5th placers, respectively, the Jamaican team won gold in front of the American favorites by just outsprinting them in the last 50 metres. In 2016, Williams-Mills only competed in the relay at the

2016 Olympic games ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

, running as the anchor leg for Jamaica trying to pass Allyson Felix of the US, but during the final stretch Allyson manage to hold off Novelene to get gold for the US and Jamaica got silver. In 2017, Williams-Mills won the 400 m at the Jamaica invitational, winning in a time of 50.56. Later on in the season, she also won the 400 m at the

meeting in Paris in a time of 51.03. At the London 2017 World Championships, Williams-Mills made the final of the women's 400 m and came in eighth place in a time of 51.49. In the 4 × 400 m relay, which was going to be her last major championship race, she was scheduled to anchor the Jamaican team; however, on the second leg, Anneisha McLaughlin-Wilby pulled up injured, therefore ending the Jamaican team's chances of medalling in that event. During the 2017 season, Williams-Mills announced that she would retire at the end of the 2017 season “ This is my farewell season; I’ve been in this for a long time and I think I’ve done my fair share and represented my country well so sometimes you have to hang up your spikes and move on the next chapter of your life and I think I’ve reached that point where I need to do that now", said Williams-Mills. Her last race was on 1 September 2017 at the Brussels Diamond League, where she came 6th place running 51.27.

Cancer diagnosis

In July 2013, Williams-Mills told members of the media that she was diagnosed with breast cancer before the 2012 Olympics. Very few people at the time knew about the diagnosis. Despite the diagnosis, she still ran the race and was able to help Jamaica win a bronze medal. After the Olympics, Williams-Mills had a

mastectomy Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operat ...

and in January 2013, had another operation. She has stated that she would run, "for all the breast cancer survivors out there."

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Novlene 1982 births Living people Jamaican female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Jamaica Florida Gators women's track and field athletes World Athletics Championships medalists Olympic athletes of Jamaica Olympic bronze medalists for Jamaica Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics People from Saint Ann Parish Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Jamaica Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Jamaica Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists for Jamaica Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Diamond League winners IAAF Continental Cup winners World Athletics Championships winners Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Pan American Games silver medalists for Jamaica Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Olympic female sprinters

Early life

Athletics career

Cancer diagnosis

See also

References

External links