I raced my sprinting hero finally World Relays – now I’m hungry for extra medals
Nia Wedderburn-Goodison is heading to Botswana for her second taste of the World Relays a year on from winning women’s 4x100m gold in Guangzhou alongside Amy Hunt, Bianca Williams and fellow rookie Success Eduan.
Nia Wedderburn-Goodison
The World Athletics Relays will always hold a special place in Nia Wedderburn-Goodison’s heart – it is the event where she made her senior debut and raced against the greatest female sprinter in history.
The 21-year-old sprinter is heading to Botswana for her second taste of the World Relays a year on from winning women’s 4x100m gold in Guangzhou alongside Amy Hunt, Bianca Williams and fellow rookie Success Eduan.
The magnitude of that result becomes more apparent when you consider they took down a Jamaican team featuring two-time world 200m champion Shericka Jackson, current world 100m silver medallist Tia Clayton and the legendary Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, to many the greatest of female sprinter of all time.
Reflecting on what that achievement meant, Wedderburn-Goodison said: “It was really important for me that I was selected for this one, it’s a great opportunity. Last year, it was my first time in the senior team, my debut, so this competition, I owe it a lot in my development. I’m really excited to be back here again.
“I think it was an advantage to have my first senior competition as a relay. Technically, it’s a team sport when it comes to this. There are no individual events on the timetable. There were three senior girls and three of us were making our debuts so it was important to learn from them, they were like big sisters in a way, they were very supportive. It was a really good time to make my debut, coming into a very positive, supportive environment.
“I took a lot of confidence from last year. Seeing what is possible, it showed me the levels that you can be at. I think our relay skills played a big part in the success as well. On paper, looking at foot speed, you might think GB wouldn’t win because your personal bests aren’t as good. But the relay gelling was a really important factor in getting the win.
“It was really good. I wasn’t stressed by it or put off. But I looked up and thought ‘wow, I’m racing Shelly-Ann’. I respect Shelly-Ann a lot, so it was more humbling, I get to be in the same environment as her, the same forum as her. But it didn’t throw me off or added extra nerves. I was just really happy to be there.”
Wedderburn-Goodison followed up her World Relays success with a silver medal over 100m at the European U23 Championships in Bergen, as well as 4x100m gold, again with Eduan. And in 2026, she already has another major medal to her name, albeit from a race run back in 2024.
In Lima, at the World U20 Championships, Wedderburn-Goodison finished a heart-breaking fourth, nine hundredths off the podium over 100m. However, that result was upgraded to a bronze in March due to a positive test for Adaejah Hodge, who had initially won silver.
Although Wedderburn-Goodison missed out on her medal moment, she was still grateful to get the recognition of her achievement.
She added: “Bittersweet is the perfect way to describe it. In the moment it would have been nice to have that and be on the podium.
“But it’s still rewarding because I worked very hard towards that specific competition that year and I remember being very disappointed to miss out because fourth place is really frustrating. You can be happy to make the World Junior Final but getting the medal was definitely a big goal.”
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