The triple crown - Melissa Jefferson-Wooden

After dominating the 2025 sprint season, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden embarked on her World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 journey with three golden goals in mind. 

The US 24-year-old secured titles in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m, etching her name in history.

“Coming off of Paris last year, I was very content and happy with how my season went because I had overcome so much to be able to still make the Olympic team and medal, as well,” reflects Jefferson-Wooden, the Olympic 100m bronze medallist, in an exclusive World Athletics video feature.

“Coming into 2025, my husband and I went on a weekend getaway. He asked me: ‘Are you okay? Are you ready for this year? What do you want out of this year?’

“We got a book – it’s our guide to the world, in a sense. He said: ‘Whatever you’re feeling, whatever you want to accomplish and achieve, put it in this book, and then one day we’re going to be able to go back and look at it and see how far we have come.’

“And now, I’m sitting here today as a three-time world champion.”

The 19-minute video feature follows Jefferson-Wooden’s journey in Tokyo – sharing the story of her triumphs on the track and joining her behind the scenes in the call room, in training and in preparation.

After winning the 100m title in Tokyo in a championship record of 10.61 – making her the fourth-fastest women’s sprinter in history – Jefferson-Wooden completed the sprint double by winning the 200m in 21.68 five days later. She then added a third gold medal to her haul by forming part of the victorious US 4x100m team on the final day of the championships.

“At the beginning of the year, I told my coaches that I wanted to take the 200m more seriously,” says Jefferson-Wooden. “They both kind of looked at each other, like: ‘Did y’all hear what she just said? Is she serious?’

“It went from: ‘I think I can make the team’ to ‘I think I can win US Trials’. And it went from: ‘I think I can win US Trials’ to ‘I think I can medal at the World Champs’ and then ‘I think I can win the whole thing’.”

Family members – including her parents Johanna and Melvin – were there to witness it all.

“To have my family waiting at the finish line, that meant the world to me,” says Jefferson-Wooden. “They are so proud of me. For them to be able to come all the way to Tokyo and celebrate with me and be in the moment with me, just meant a lot. They sacrificed so much for me, and I feel like it’s only right that I go out there and perform and be the best Melissa that I can be, so I can make them proud.”

Turns out, being the best Melissa she could be meant becoming a triple world champion.

“I felt blessed, because I was there to witness it,” says her father. “In 2018, I had a bone marrow transplant and she was my donor. That allowed me to be alive to witness the whole thing.”

The significance was not lost on Jefferson-Wooden. “If I have an opportunity to help someone, do it. That’s what life is about,” she says. “If you’re in positions where you can help someone along the way – that means much more to me that anything that I decide to do on the track.

“When I think of little me, like how would she feel, I think she would be over the moon. She would have no regrets, no doubts, no nothing.”

Interview and video production by Marta Gorczyńska for World Athletics