BUDAPEST: Jamaica's Danielle Williams reclaimed her world women's 100m hurdles crown on Thursday with a shock win in Budapest.
The 30-year-old, who previously won in Beijing in 2015, timed 12.43 seconds to edge out Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico (12.44sec) with Kendra Harrison of the United States taking bronze (12.46).
Williams, running in the outsider's lane two, rose at the final hurdle alongside Camacho-Quinn and Harrison.
However, Williams found just that bit more to cross ahead of her two more fancied rivals.
Her victory was even more remarkable as she had only just sneaked into the final as one of the two fastest losers.
There was still an anxious wait for victory to be confirmed with the finalists crowded round each other on the track, looking up at the big screen before finally the times flashed up.
Williams let out a yell of delight, spun on her heel, her hands clasped to her face, and ran back to the finish line before collapsing to the ground.
"I still don't believe I won against such a stellar field," she said.
"I've been racing these ladies all year and they have been kicking me left, right and centre.
"But I had such confidence in my training and my abilities that I never stopped believing."
Williams said a call to her sister on Wednesday had reassured her that she had the talent still to achieve something special.
Aside from a world bronze in 2019 Williams has not figured amongst the heavy hitters since her moment of glory in Beijing until Thursday.
"When I won in 2015 it was unbelievable," she said.
"But this took a lot of hard work, a lot of years of toil and injuries, and losing my confidence and battling to get back to this stage.
"It's awesome, Jamaica is a proud country and we love to win. I love to win."
For Camacho-Quinn it was an improvement of one place from last year.
"I'm not upset at all," said the 27-year-old. "I can be grateful with that silver. After I won a bronze at the last world championships now I have a silver.
"If I add my Olympic gold medal I have the whole collection to be proud of."
Camacho-Quinn, only Puerto Rico's second ever Olympic champion, said to come second in one of the strongest fields of all time was a privilege.
"This final was packed with talents and I was defeated by just a tenth of a second so I don't have any bitter feelings," she said.
For Harrison it was once again a final disappointment.
The 30-year-old former world record holder had set a world leading time in her heat of 12.24sec but failed to carry that form into the final.
Harrison added a bronze to her two silvers (Olympic and world) and set her sights on Olympic gold in Paris next year.
"I didn't get what I wanted for the season but I did come away with a medal," she said.
"To get out on the world stage and get a medal is something to be grateful for. I'm just going to keep going for it.
"Next year is the Olympics and I have all the motivation in the world."
Defending champion Tobi Amusan of Nigeria and 2019 winner Nia Ali were never in the hunt, finishing sixth and last respectively.
"I do not know what happened," said 34-year-old Ali, whose three children and boyfriend, Olympic 200m champion Andre de Grasse were watching from the stands.
"I just came out of the blocks and hit the first hurdle." — AFP