Sada’s mum, Amber’s sister say they are both very focused Loop Barbados

Black Immigrant Daily News

Family members of the athletes who reached new heights at the recently concluded Commonwealth and Pan Am Games are not only delighted to have them home but are proud of their outstanding performances.

Sada Williams and Johnathan Jones who returned home on Wednesday, September 14, 2022, were joined by Amber Joseph and greeted at the Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) by government officials, family and friends before participating in a celebratory motorcade which culminated at the Wildey Gymnasium.

Speaking to Loop following the day’s festivities, Shernel Williams, who was decked out in a blue ensemble bearing the words ‘Welcome home Sada’, said it was very excited to see her daughter live out her dreams.

“It’s a great feeling. It’s a wonderful feeling!”

She explained that although her daughter was not much of a ‘fussy’ person, she expressed that she hoped to clock either 48 or 49 seconds in her 400-meter record-breaking race.

“I speak to her every day. All she told me was, ‘Mummy I running 49 or 48.’ She don’t really be that fussy, she does just run. She does just do what she have to do.”

“I watched all of the races. I’m not really a fussy person so I just clapped and said, ‘Yes! She won a medal,’” the proud mother revealed.

Williams also disclosed that the aftermath was filled with calls from friends and family members giving their congratulations.

Johnathan Jones’ grandmother Ruth Shield welcomed him with open arms

Astral Griffith was extremely proud of her younger sister Amber Joseph’s performance.

“I feel extremely proud of her and her performance. To be honest, when she did the race with the gold we was watching to race and thinking, ‘Okay she ain’t looking bad, she ain’t looking bad,’ but we did not expect it… then the last three or four laps she really pulled that energy from somewhere and then she was at the front of the race and that was it from there, she got the gold.”

Taking herself back to the moment she witnessed her sister nab a gold medal in the women’s scratch race, Griffith divulged that her entire family was screaming and shouting at the television with excitement.

“Me and the family were at home and we were screaming and shouting at the TV while we were watching it like if we were there, that time we couldn’t even understand the commentator because he was speaking Spanish, but all we could hear was ‘Amber Joseph, Amber Joseph’, so yes we were screaming and we supported from home.”

Admitting that her sister is usually a nervous person before a race, she commended her on her drive and focus.

“Amber is always nervous before a race no matter how big or small it is, but I just tell Amber to go and do your best and focus, and she will get there in the end. She trains a lot. Like today she did a four-hour road race this morning early before she went to the airport, so one thing about her is that she is very serious about her training.”

She professed, “Amber is fun and jokes off the track but when she has her helmet on, that’s it! She is a completely different person and very focused.”

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