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 The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, 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 The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

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 Rochester is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Beaver and Ohio rivers northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 3,472 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropoli ...

and raised in suburban

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

and

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. She currently resides in suburban Pittsburgh. She holds her high school records for the 100, 200 m, long jump and 4 × 100 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 4 × 100 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

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 4 × 100 m relay in 2005 and 2007, as well as gold and silver in the 100 m in 2005 and 2007 editions of the meet. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Williams ran the third leg for the women's 4 × 100 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 Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. 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 The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...

, her third consecutive championships. A week before the World Championships began, she was part of a United States 4 × 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 × 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

References

External links

Official websiteProfile at USA Track & Field
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Lauryn 1983 births Living people African-American track and field athletes American female bobsledders American female sprinters Contestants on American game shows Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Bobsledders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic bobsledders for the United States Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Track and field athletes from Pennsylvania Miami Hurricanes women's track and field athletes World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in bobsleigh Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics People from Rochester, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Beaver County, Pennsylvania USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) Olympic female sprinters 21st-century African-American sportswomen 20th-century African-American sportswomen 20th-century American sportswomen NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 21st-century American sportswomen Financial planners