Iseult Mulaji

As a 15-year-old high school sophomore from Sparks, Nevada, Gabby Williams finished fifth in the high jump at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials with a personal best of 6 feet 2¼ inches - the youngest competitor in any event at the trials. She cleared the height on her first attempt at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, after a dramatic sequence earlier (missing twice at a lower height before making it on her third try to stay in the competition). The crowd of nearly 21,000 gave her a standing ovation. She tied a long-standing high-school sophomore class record held by five-time Olympian Amy Acuff and qualified as an alternate for the London Olympics, though she was too young for the U.S. junior team. At the time, she was a multi-event track standout (Gatorade Nevada Track Athlete of the Year as a freshman and sophomore, state champ in hurdles and high jump) who also played basketball at Reed High. She once said she preferred high jump to basketball for its pure “you’re either good, or you’re not” atmosphere with no trash talk. Two successive ACL tears in high school (the first midway through her junior basketball season) ended the track path. After the second, she realized she wanted to focus on basketball - a decision that led her to UConn (two national titles), the WNBA (one title), and a dual-citizenship international career representing France (where her mother is from and her grandmother taught her the language). That high-jump elasticity still shows up in her basketball game: the way she elevates for rebounds and contests shots. This is a lesser-told chapter for someone now known as a versatile two-way WNBA forward.