Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth & Sports

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(L-R) Silver medalist Shericka Williams of Jamaica, gold medalist Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain and bronze medalist Sanya Richards of the United States stand on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Women's 400m Final held at the National Stadium on Day 11 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 19, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Shericka Williams added a silver medal to Jamaica's pot tonight, after running a cleverly-timed race to beat event favourite, Sanya Richards of the USA, who could only manage third.

Britain's Christine Ohuruogu, repeated her performance at last year's World Championships, just holding on from Williams to double as Olympic Champion.

Jamaica missed out on the medals in the Women's 100 Metres Hurdles with Delloreen Ennis-London and Bridgitte Foster-Hylton finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.

Sports Minister, Olivia Grange, who watched the action at the Bird's Nest, congratulated Jamaica's performers on the fifth night of athletics competition.

She described Williams' run as an extraordinary feat of bravery and said the week held some more incredible results in store for Jamaica. "Shericka showed incredible fight tonight and could have had a gold medal. Even though she was led for most of the race she summoned the strength in the final stretch to pull through. It was a show of pure determination and she has achieved a good result for her years of hard work."

Jamaica lies 19th in the overall medal table and fourth in the athletics discipline with two gold and three silver.

That tally is expected to increase tomorrow night, Beijing time, when Usain Bolt competes in the Men's 200 Metres and Melanie Walker takes her impressive form into the finals of the Women's 400 Metres Hurdles.

Ms Grange said: "While we missed out on another possible medal in the Women's 100 Metres Hurdles, I would like all the athletes who performed tonight to know how proud we are of them. It is not easy to make it to the Olympics and once you get here, it is even harder to make it to the finals. These men and women are doing Jamaica proud and we look forward to more success throughout the week."

Maurice Wignall advanced to the semi finals of the Men's 110 Metres Hurdles while all three female sprinters in the 200 Metres, Veronica Campbell, Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart also advanced to tomorrow night's semis.

Minister Grange is heading Jamaica's official delegation to the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing, China, in her capacity as Sports Minister.

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