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 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.[4] 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.[4] She was inducted into the Iron Arrow Honor Society, the university's highest honor.
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.[1]
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.[5] 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.[6]
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.[7]
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.[8]
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.[9] 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.[9]
