DOHA, Qatar—This was not your typical family get-together. The Williams crew has been busy over the past two days in Doha. Kendell Williams was competing in heptathlon. Devon Williams was in the decathlon.
Trying to keep tabs on all the action were their parents, who were watching from the stands at the world championships.
Kendell finished fifth overall on Thursday night. Devon no-heighted in the pole vault, skipped the final two events and didn’t earn a place.
“It was awesome and stressful at the same time,” Kendell said of sharing the stage with her older brother.
Awesome because the men’s and women’s multi-event competitions aren’t typically contested at the same time at worlds (one is usually at the end and the other at the start of the championships). Stressful because she would glance over and see her brother on the giant monitor in the stadium.
“I get too nervous watching him,” Kendell said. “It’s nerve-wracking because I want him to do so well.”
He doesn’t get nervous watching his sister, though.
“We’ve been doing this our whole lives and we know what we’re doing and what we’re capable of,” said Devon, who went to University of Georgia along with his sister. “She just has to go out there and compete.”
Mom charts all their performances and dad nervously paces.
“They’re such track parents,” Kendell said.
Someone else getting a workout was their college Coach Petros Kyprianou, who went from one end to the other to keep up. AP
Image credits: AP