Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, the self-described village kid from a South Carolina seaport, who had two (partial) college scholarship offers, who saved her dad’s life at age 17 , is now the world 100m champion.

Jefferson-Wooden ran away to win in 10.61 seconds in Tokyo, becoming the fourth-fastest woman in history. One year ago, she was the Olympic 100m bronze medalist.

“When this year started, I had the goal to improve on my bronze medal and to make it a gold medal,” Jefferson-Wooden told Lewis Johnson on NBC Sports.

Jamaican Tina Clayton took silver in 10.76, followed by Olympic gold medalist Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia in 10.84. Alfred said she “felt my hamstring a little bit” in the warm-up area before the final.

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