Freshly minted National Women’s 100 hurdles champion Megan Tapper revealed she almost gave up the sport this year but decided against it out of concern she would disappoint too many people.

The 31-year-old Tapper, who won bronze at the 2020 Olympic Games, has been facing a slew of personal issues, including separation from husband and niggling injuries.

With these injuries, Tapper has lost important contracts and has been running without a shoe or kit sponsor, and limited financial assistance. Currently, only hotel giant Sandals has her back.

However, she managed to put all that behind her and last weekend ran the race of her life, speeding to a personal best of 12.34 (0.1mps), which was just outside Jamaica’s National record of 12.24 set by Ackera Nugent in Rome in 2024.

“I’ve quit about five times this season,” said Tapper, who will be heading to the World Championship as one of the favourites now. “But I knew that the people around me had poured so much into me, that me just giving up wasn’t an option.”

Tapper continued: “I’m realising that putting Megan first and putting performance first and putting just high performance first is very important, and so we’re prioritising it. But I was able or I am able to use that because I have the most amazing team around me. As I said, thank you so much, guys. It’s all for you.”

The diminutive Tapper, standing at 5 ft 1 inch, flew out of the blocks and left behind one of the World Championship gold medal favourites in Ackera Nugent, behind and never looked back.

She came into the Championship with a personal best of 12.44, established two years ago in 2023 and lowered that significantly to 12.34, which puts her sixth in the world behind American Masai Russell with 12.17 seconds.

“I didn’t do this alone. I had a team that stuck by me through the downs, through the postings, and through the ups. Surround yourself with good people, and it will come,” said Tapper.