Lauryn Williams

Lauryn Williams

Personal information
Born	(1983-09-11) September 11, 1983 Rochester, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Miami
Height	5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)
Weight	127 lb (58 kg; 9.1 st)
Sport
Country	United States
Club	Florida
Turned pro	2004
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals	2nd Athens 2004– 100 metres
World finals	1st Helsinki 2005– 100 metres
Highest world ranking	2
Personal best(s)	100m- 10.88 200m- 22.27
Medal record Women's athletics Representing the United States Olympic Games 2012 London 4×100 m relay 2004 Athens 100 meters World Championships 2005 Helsinki 100 meters 2005 Helsinki 4x100 m relay 2007 Osaka 4x100 m relay 2007 Osaka 100 meters World Indoor Championships 2006 Moscow 60 meters World Athletics Final 2004 Monaco 100 meters 2005 Monaco 100 meters World Junior Championships 2002 Kingston 100 meters 2002 Kingston 4x100 m relay Pan American Games 2003 Santo Domingo 100 meters Women's bobsleigh Representing the United States Olympic Games 2014 Sochi Two-woman
Updated on February 19, 2014

Lauryn Williams speaking at the USA Track & Field national meeting, December 2014

Lauryn Williams (born September 11, 1983) is an American sprinter and bobsledder. She was the gold medalist in the 100 meter dash at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2007 World Championships, and 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships. She won a silver medal in the two-woman bobsleigh at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

A World Junior Champion in 2002, she went on to win the 100 m at the 2003 Pan American Games and claimed the NCAA title over the distance for the University of Miami the following year. She has also featured as part of the American 4×100 meter relay team, winning gold medals at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships and at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Williams is one of six athletes to have won a medal in both the Summer and Winter Olympic games, as well as the first American woman to do so.

Career

Williams was born in Rochester, Pennsylvania and raised in suburban Pittsburgh and Detroit. She currently resides in suburban Pittsburgh. She holds her high school records for the 100, 200m, long jump and 4x100 meters relay. She ran for The Wings of Moon Track Club founded by Coach Rubin Carter based in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb near Pittsburgh. She was a star with the new club and qualified for the National Junior Olympics.

College

She attended the University of Miami, where she competed on the track team and graduated in 2004. She was inducted into the Iron Arrow Honor Society, the university's highest honor.

Track career

Williams was a part of the 4x100 meter relay team at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics, where she anchored the American team with Angela Williams, Chryste Gaines and Inger Miller in their heat. She did not run in the final.

Later that season, she participated in the 2003 Pan American Games in the 100 metre event. She went on to claim gold in a time of 11.12, followed closely by Angela Williams and Liliana Allen.

Williams is a silver medalist in the 100 meters at the 2004 Summer Olympics and a 4-time medalist at the World Championships in Athletics, where she won (together with Angela Daigle, Muna Lee and Me'Lisa Barber) a gold medal in the 4x100 m relay in 2005 and 2007, as well as gold and silver in the 100m in 2005 and 2007 editions of the meet.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Williams ran the third leg for the women’s 4x100 relay team in the final. Marion Jones, who ran the second leg, and Williams failed to complete the baton exchange within the 20-meter passing zone, resulting in disqualification of the U.S. team.

In the Beijing Olympics of 2008, Williams ran the anchor leg in the relay, but a mix-up in the semi-final with team-mate Torri Edwards caused Edwards to drop the baton. Williams picked up the baton to finish in last place, but the USA was disqualified because she had had to run outside her lane in order to retrieve the baton. At the individual 100 metres sprint she placed 2nd in her first round heat behind Christine Arron in a time of 11.38 to advance to the second round. There she improved her time to 11.07 seconds and placed 2nd again, this time behind Kerron Stewart. With the third time in her semi final heat behind Shelly-Ann Fraser and Muna Lee she qualified for the final in 11.10 seconds. In the final she came to 11.03, finishing in fourth place, behind three runners from Jamaica.

Williams took third place in the 100 m at the 2009 US Championships and as a result she qualified for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, her third consecutive championships. A week before the World Championships began, she was part of a United States 4 x 100 m relay team that ran the fastest women's sprint relay in twelve years. Williams, Allyson Felix, Muna Lee and Carmelita Jeter finished with a time of 41.58 seconds, bringing them to eighth on the all-time list.

She spent the entirety of 2010 away from competitive athletics and, among other things, she worked in the athletic department at the University of Miami. She returned to competition in 2011.

In the 2012 Olympics in London, Lauryn Williams ran the anchor leg of 4 x 100 meter relay for USA in the qualification round. The team went on to win gold and earn a new world record with a time of 40.82

2014 Winter Olympics

On January 19, 2014 Williams won her first bobsled gold medal in a World Cup event at Igls, Austria. She was later selected to be a part of the U.S. Olympic 2014 women's bobsled team.

On February 19, 2014 Williams along with Elana Meyers won the silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. Their first run was a time of 57.26, a track record. Their second run was 57.63, the third was 57.69 and fourth was 58.13 for a total of 3:50.71, a difference of +0.10 from first place, just edged out by Canada 1.

Williams is one of six Olympians, three Americans to win medals at the Winter and Summer Olympic Games. Eddie Eagan won Gold as a boxer in 1920 and on the bobsled in 1932. Eddy Alvarez won a Silver Medal in 2014 as a speedskater and another Silver Medal in Tokyo for baseball.

After the Olympics

Williams later became a certified financial planner, passing the exam in 2017.

Major achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing the United States
2002	World Junior Championships	Kingston, Jamaica	1st	100m	11.33 (wind: -0.2 m/s)
			2nd	4×100m relay	43.66
2003	Pan American Games	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	1st	100m	11.12 secs
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	2nd	100m	10.96 secs
	World Athletics Final	Monaco, Monaco	3rd	100m	11.21 secs
2005	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	1st	100m	10.93 secs
	World Athletics Final	Monaco, Monaco	3rd	100m	11.04 secs
2006	World Indoor Championships	Moscow, Russia	2nd	60m	7.01 secs
2007	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	2nd	100m	11.01 secs
2012	Olympic Games	London, Great Britain	1st	4x100m relay	Competed in heats but not in final.
2014	Olympic Games	Sochi, Russia	2nd	2 Woman bobsleigh	3:50.71

See also

• World Fit

External links

• Official website
• Profile at USA Track & Field