NEXT LEVEL

After

breaking into the ranks of Jamaica’s fastest women ever, national 100m sprinter Jonielle Smith says she’s looking to carry her strong form into next season with the World Athletics Championships looming.

Smith ended her impressive 2026 season over the weekend at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, finishing fourth in the women’s 100m final and helping Jamaica land silver in the 4x100 metres mixed relay. The 2025 North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) 100m champion moved to 14th all time in Jamaica’s all-time list when she clocked a personal best 10.89 seconds at the Eugene Diamond League in July. Prior to this year, Smith had never gone under 11 seconds in the event. However, she managed to dip under the mark six times, including at the Ultimate Championship where she registered 10.94 seconds both in the semi-final and final. Smith, a finalist at this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Scotland and March’s World Indoor Championships in Poland, believes improving her confidence level was key in her success this year. “I’m proud of myself [for] having confidence in myself,” she told the

Inside Lane UK

. “As good as last year was, it took me a while to start to trust my body and I feel like from day one this year in the background, I told myself that I was a champion and I was going to get what I wanted done and I think that’s what I’m most proud of, just being confident.” The 30-year-old, who won 4x100m silver at last year’s Tokyo World Championships, says writing out her goals has helped change her perspective, which was on display at the recent Ultimate Championship. “I journalled every day before practice and I had to do that [for the 100m final] also,” she said. “After the 4x100m, I felt bad because I really wanted us to win and I wasn’t able to pass [USA’s] Kayla [White]. She’s a phenomenal athlete, but I wanted us to win [0:44] to be honest, so I genuinely felt bad. My people were like ‘you split nine [seconds], that was so good’. But regardless, it was just like we didn’t win. “So I went back to what I was used to and I journalled, I told myself that I’m a champion and I reminded myself what we were doing, trying to have fun and stuff like that. And I felt like that made me come out a whole lot more confident since the last month and the results showed.” Describing 2026 as “phenomenal”, Smith says she’s excited for what’s to come in 2027. “I got my 10.8, I got top three at the national trials and Ultimate finalist,” she said. “I just didn’t get [a] Commonwealth [medal] but that was out of my control, so I got to give myself some grace for that. But I feel like I finished off extremely well and I started even better indoors, so it’s a great thing to build off going into next season.” Smith will likely be eyeing an individual spot at the 2027 World Championships in Beijing, having last done so in 2019 in Doha.

Jamaica’s Jonielle Smith competes in the mixed relay 4x100m final during the World Athletics Ultimate Championships at the Gyula Zsivotzky National Athletics Centre in Budapest on Friday. (Photo: AFP)