RIO DE JANEIRO – California sophomore gymnast Toni-Ann Williams punched her ticket to the 2016 Olympics in Rio with a strong showing at the Rio Olympic Test event Sunday, making her the first female gymnast set to represent Jamaica and Cal at the Olympic Games.

“What an amazing accomplishment. It's a little surreal at the moment, but we believed without a doubt that she would qualify,” said Cal and Jamaica head coach Justin Howell. 

Already the first gymnast to compete for Jamaica at the international level, Williams will be the first gymnast to represent the country at the Olympics. She is also the first Cal women's gymnastics student-athlete to qualify for the Olympics in the history of the program.

Williams finished 38th overall, and 16th as an individual not competing with a full team, with a 52.931 total in the all-around. Her highest score of the day came as a 14.066 on vault, which ranked 24th among her competitors. She also finished in the top 35 on beam (29th, 13.666) and floor (32nd, 13.366). Williams tallied an 11.833 on bars.

The Randallstown, Md., product has been training concurrently for both international qualification and the NCAA gymnastics season. She missed this week's NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships to compete at the Rio Olympic Test Event for her only chance to qualify, but still enjoyed a standout sophomore season, picking up a pair of All-Pac-12 First Team honors, her second West Region Gymnast of the Year award and her fourth career Regular-Season All-America title.

“The rigor of Cal prepares our student-athletes for excellence. It becomes their habit and their way of the life. This is just another shining example,” Howell said. “This is proof that gymnastics at the college level and gymnastics at the international level can go hand-in-hand.”

Howell will be joining Williams in Rio as head coach of the Jamaican National Team. Earlier in the test event, Cal men's gymnastics' Ryan Patterson qualified to represent South Africa in Rio alongside men's gymnastics assistant coach JT Okada, who is also the head coach for South Africa.

Cal's Road to Rio Crowdfunding Campaign

For the month of April, Cal Athletics is honoring its past, present and future Olympians with a Road to Rio crowdfunding campaign. Your gift to the campaign earns you special perks and evenly supports the operational budgets of all Cal's Olympic sports. Cal builds Olympians, and your support will help continue Cal's sterling Olympic legacy - in Rio de Janeiro and for years to come. Learn more about the campaign here or contribute to the campaign by visiting this link.