by Stuart Weir
Lauryn Williams Championship races
In 2005, Lauryn Williams was officially the fastest woman in the world, winning the world championship in Helsinki in 10.93. The year before, she had surprised herself by being selected for the Athens Olympics and coming second in 10.96 behind Yulia Nesterenko (Belarus) ahead of Veronica Campbell (who had not yet added -Brown to her name). Nesterenko was eighth in the world championship the following year and did not reach the final of the 2008 Olympics. As he was part of the Soviet Union system, questions could be asked about her stellar performance. I’d like to point out that the questions are being asked by your correspondent, not by Lauryn].
As Lauryn explained in the previous article, competing in the 2004 Olympics had not really been on her radar. She describes herself as “kind of like a deer in the headlights. I had no idea that that opportunity was coming my way earlier in the year”, adding, “I think I made the most of it, but I did walk away feeling like, gosh, could’ve, would’ve, should’ve, what if I would have won”. When I pointed out that she had come second, her pithy reply was, “And second’s good, but it’s not first.”
Then, in 2005, came her chance to claim the official world title and the unofficial claim to be the fastest woman in the world. Recalling it nearly 20 years afterward, she told me: “2005 is such a long time ago. But I know that the thing that was overwhelming for me was that it was kind of redemption from 2004, my first Olympic Games. And so 2005 was that chance to really get to the finish line first. And it was like, OK, I can be the fastest person in the world. I am the fastest person in the world at this moment. So it was an advantageous kind of redeeming feeling to have 2005 after 2004”.
At the 2007 World Champs, she took silver behind Veronica Campbell. Both athletes were clocked at 11.01, and after a long wait, Campbell was awarded the gold by a margin of two-thousandths of a second. It was not our sport’s finest hour, and the process took 30 minutes to decide who won. Williams recalls: “At first, Veronica’s name flashed up on the scoreboard, and then my name went up as the winner for about two minutes before switching back to Veronica. We then had to wait about 30 minutes for Veronica to be confirmed as the gold medallist”. Lauryn also helped the US take gold in the 4 by 100 relay in a final team including Allyson Felix, Mikele Barber, and Torri Edwards.
“I almost didn’t compete at the 2007 World Championships because of an injury. I almost gave my spot up because it was like some days I can run, some days I can’t, and I don’t know what day it’s gonna be on the day of the finals. I’d rather just have some medal for Team USA than no medal because I couldn’t compete, so to get there and contend for the gold medal after winning in 2005 was like, wow, look what I did. And then for them not being able to decide who won!…”
In the 2008 Olympics 100m, there was a Jamaican 1-2-3 Shelly-Ann Fraser, Sherone Simpson, and Kerron Stewart, with Williams fourth. Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart were awarded joint silvers with no bronze. For Lauryn, this brought back memories of the previous year and 2004. “2008 was the most demanding game that I competed in because in 2004, like I said, I was kind of the deer in headlights. I didn’t see it coming, but in 2008, I was the favorite to win as the 2004 gold medalist disappeared into the sunset. So it was all eyes on me, and I didn’t live up to the hype. And so it was tough because I was in great shape in 2008. And I don’t know to this day how or why? Things happen in a moment. If we had run the race 15 minutes before, 15 minutes later, or maybe 15 seconds before and 15 seconds later. It could have been a different result. It wasn’t for lack of fitness. But that result was what it was, and I had to swallow it.
“What was really hard about it was that in 2007, it took them about 30 minutes to decide whether Veronica Campbell or I won the World Championships. And they ended up deciding that she won. And I got to a point where I was just like, why can’t we get 2 gold medals? Like, if you really can’t decide. And then in 2008, they gave 2 silver medals. So they gave a gold and two silvers that year and decided pretty much instantly. And I was like, OK, so last year, we had to choose somebody, but this year, in five seconds, you guys said they both get a silver. And it matters a lot for us in track and field because our contracts say different things, so to be a silver medallist versus a gold medallist, I would have been a double gold medallist. So that would have been extra money because I would have won back-to-back…all these different opportunities got missed out on”. That she beat Shelly-Ann a week later didn’t help because “nobody cares when it’s not the Olympics.” And so yeah, it was a tough time.”
In 2009, she was fifth in the individual 100m and won another gold medal in the relay. For the 2012 London Olympics, she did not make the 100m team but was in the relay squad with unfinished business with Olympic relays, having been part of the US team in 2004 and 2008, which failed to get the baton round. “For me, that London relay medal is possibly the most important of the three because I now realize what it meant – just to make it onto that team and what it meant to be a team support member as I was just there as an alternate. I didn’t realize, but the Lord was setting me up to be ready for bobsleigh because track and field is a very individual sport, aside from when we get together for the relay, and that’s why we have so many issues – because they throw 4 individuals together. We have very little chemistry, we’re competitors, and then it’s like, OK, you’re off to the races to figure out how to win as a team”.
As a senior athlete, the two previous Olympic relay failures weighed heavily on her: “I knew going into it that I probably wasn’t going to be one of the final four, and there was a possibility I wasn’t going to get to run at all that I have gone all the way over to the games, and they weren’t going to need me, period. And it’s a very humbling space to be in, but it’s also a time where you get to really build some character because what was the most important thing to me in that moment was that we actually get a medal this time,
“In 2004, I am sure we could have broken the world record. 2008, I am sure we could have broken the world record, but you don’t get to break the record if you don’t finish the race. And so I think I knew more than anybody on that team. I knew how important it was that we had good chemistry so that we could at least finish the race because the world record should be easy if we could just finish it. And taking that knowledge and that wisdom into that third opportunity was a thing that I think I contributed to the team. Yes, I did get to run in the first round. I successfully got the baton around, for which I’m grateful. But looking back on it, I think behind the scenes, my contribution was trying to ensure we didn’t kill each other. We actually had good energy headed to the starting line”.
And she went home with an Olympic gold medal.
Please enjoy this interview with Lauryn Williams from 2010: https://www.runblogrun.com/2010/04/rbr-interview-lauryn-williams-olympic-sprinter-by-larry-eder.html.
