Posted: August 2, 2005

Athletics: Williams On 2005 Season: 'Not As Great As I Thought It Would Be.'

By Bob Ramsak, Track Profile

© 2005 Track Profile all rights reserved TrackProfile.com

After her runner-up finish at last Friday’s Bislett Games in Oslo, Lauryn Williams, the 2004 Olympic silver medallist in the 100m, readily shared a frank assessment on her season to date.

“Not as great as I thought it would be,” she said plainly and succinctly. Call it the post-Olympic blues—or, well, something.

“Maybe it’s some post-Olympic something or other,” the 21-year-old Floridian said, sharing a smile. “You know, people have a way of diagnosing everything. Hopefully I can find some sort of excuse or something because I had a really good fall training. I'm not hurt or anything like that. So I expected some faster times. I guess I'm just having a hard time putting my race together.”

Despite a strong mid-race surge in Oslo to briefly take the lead, Williams finished second to Christine Arron of France, reaching the line in 11.16. “She just blew by me. I was hoping to get a good one in before Worlds. But it was just an alright one.”

In eight races this season, Williams has notched just one win, with an 11.16 clocking at the Prefontaine Classic in early June. At the U.S. championships in late June, Williams finished third in 11.29, qualifying for the Helsinki squad by a scant two one-hundredths of a second. Although she improved her personal best to 10.91 (+1.9 wind) with her runner-up finish at Lausanne's Super Grand Prix --Bahamian Chandra Sturrup won the race with a world-leading 10.84, a national record for the 33-year-old Bahamian-- Williams hasn't been particularly consistent thus far in 2005. Prior to Oslo, Williams clocked just 11.26 in the Rome Golden League fixture, finishing a distant fifth.

Williams believes her success at next week’s world championships will lie in the execution of the latter part of her race.

"I think my finish [needs the most improvement]. I'm not running through the line. I'm really a lot better in my start now. Usually the finish is my strong point, but now it doesn't seem to be."

Williams has just six days remaining before the first round of the 100m begins on Sunday, August 7, and plans to use that time wisely.

“I'm just going to get a good week of training in and do the best I can.”

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