In high-speed lane
Williams looks at trials as golden opportunity
Lauryn Williams cannot stop giggling. Trying to talk about the closest race of her career, the laughter comes in quick, uncontrollable bursts. And the race does not have a happy ending.
In a photo finish, Williams placed second in the 100 meters at the 2007 world championships in Osaka, Japan. A longer torso or better lean at the line might have produced gold. Both Williams and winner Veronica Campbell-Brown received official times of 11.01 seconds, though Williams viewed herself as "the first loser." There was nothing funny about the postrace scene, where Williams's expression slowly changed from hopeful confusion to disappointment.
The funny part came in the retelling. Williams wondered aloud what she could have done to make up the fraction of a fraction of a second that separated her from Campbell-Brown. Officially listed at 5 feet 3 1/4 inches, Williams had limited options. She can be hard to find in the photo finish, partly obscured by a jumble of her competitors' long legs and outstretched torsos. But she is there - a short, muscled block crossing the line in Lane 4.
"I just need a little bit longer neck or bigger boobs," said Williams in mid-giggle. "I don't know. Whatever's connected to the torso."
Wisely, Williams did not take any drastic measures in preparation for the Olympics. When the US Olympic track and field trials begin today in Eugene, Ore., at legendary Hayward Field, she will be the same solidly built, diminutive sprinter she was last year at this time. But Williams hopes work on her finishing form will make a difference when racing for a spot on the team in the 100 and 200 meters. She arrived in Eugene with an impressive résumé in the 100 - 2005 world champion and runner-up at the 2004 Olympics and 2007 world championships.
This season, however, eight US women have run faster than Williams in the 100. Allyson Felix owns the fastest US time this year (10.93) and is poised to become the golden darling of track and field in Beijing. Felix will be one of the most-watched athletes at the trials as she goes about the business of qualifying in the same sprints as Williams.
Williams posted a time of 11.13 seconds earlier this season, but figures she must run under 11 seconds to qualify for Beijing. That is a significant drop, even for a runner who performs best at big meets. In many ways, Williams represents what the trials are all about. With no one assured an Olympic berth based on past performance and only three spots available per event, the potential for major drama and major disappointment make the trials captivating.
Williams is well aware a reigning world championship silver medalist could be left off the team. Qualifying rounds in the women's 100 begin this evening with six of the top 10 ranked women in the world vying for the team. Over the next 10 days, Williams and others will find out if they can finish among the lucky few.
"Those eight lanes in the final are going to be eight people who are highly qualified and just as legitimate as you," said Williams. "It's the hardest team to make. Even though you're fourth place on the US team, you might have been fourth place at the Olympics if we were allowed to take more."
Words to live by
In the nerve-racking moments before the 100-meter final at last year's world championships, Williams's coach, Amy Deem, offered prescient words of advice. "Get out there and run 102 meters," she said. "You haven't run 100 meters yet. If you run 102 meters, you'll be victorious."
Williams didn't follow those instructions. Not even close. At around 95 meters, she was already dipping for the finish line, and decelerating as a result. To Williams, that failure to run through the finish cost her gold. Few who looked at the photo finish would disagree. She knows a similar mistake at the trials could prove more costly.
To that end, Williams has focused much of her technical training on better finishes. It has been largely a matter of taking a different mental approach and breaking bad habits.
"In my practices, I have a tendency not to run through the line," said Williams. "I see the finish coming up and kind of ease off. My coach believes that you're going to race how you practice. One thing we've been working on is running through the line, especially with the races being so close the last few times. I don't have to pull back because I run a little bit leaned over already."
In good news for Williams, the trials feature four rounds, beginning with qualifying and quarterfinals tonight, and semifinals and the final tomorrow. Williams feels more comfortable in competitions in which she must race multiple times in an event.
"It's a true testament to fitness, not only speed," said Williams. "Everybody can get out there and do one race. The rounds are what legitimize you. It's a technical aspect of it. You can get out there and be fast, but it takes a little bit of strategizing to be able to do four rounds and get to the last one and be on top.
"It's an opportunity for me to work out the kinks and get into the groove. I don't want to speak on behalf of any of my competitors, but maybe they get tired through the rounds. I don't know what the situation is that I get to the final round and I tend to pull it out where all season long I'm sort of an underdog."
Williams does arrive at the trials as something of an underdog, or at least an unpredictable entrant. In addition to Felix, Williams will face such top contenders as 2007 world championship bronze medalist Carmelita Jeter, 2006 world indoor champion Me'Lisa Barber, and 2003 world champion Torri Edwards, who finished last season ranked No. 2 in the world at 100 meters.
Some of Williams's recent inconsistency and less-than-stellar times can be traced to injuries the past two seasons, including a bothersome left hamstring last year. She ran her personal best (10.88) in the 100 in 2005. When asked less than four weeks ago if she was 100 percent healthy, Williams simply said, "I'm running."
"I try not to even bring up the injury or all the bad things that happened last year or in the past two years too often," said Williams. "I'm just trying to move forward. This is a year where it's do or die. You don't have a chance to say, 'Oh, my leg hurts, this hurts, that hurts.' And so forth. Either you pull whatever's ailing you, drag it down the track with you and get to the finish line or you stay home. You have to make a choice whether you want to make excuses or if you want to be one of the people that's going to Beijing."
Much has changed
Since the last US Olympic track and field trials, much has changed for Williams and the sport. In 2004, Williams was focused on winning the 100-meter NCAA championship for the University of Miami. And she did. Her silver medal performance in Athens was an unexpected bonus. This time around, running is a full-time job, requiring total dedication. She describes track as her life and livelihood. As a result, after sluggish workouts earlier this season, Williams agreed to work with a nutritionist to lose some extra pounds.
As for track and field, the 2004 trials were overshadowed by steroid scandals that ensnared several top athletes, including Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, Chryste Gaines, Alvin Harrison, and Regina Jacobs. And yesterday, 2004 Olympic 100-meter champion Justin Gatlin had the appeal of his four-year ban for doping rejected, meaning he will not be allowed to compete in the trials.
Williams hoped the focus would shift from Gatlin's legal battles to the heated competition in all events. Naturally, she feels the races are "far more important news."
"I don't feel like what they do reflects on me," said Williams. "I don't feel like when I go out there and run fast they're saying, 'Oh, Lauryn must be on something, too.' Somebody who's educated about track and field and has done their research and has watched the sport for a long time can see the differences between the people in the past and the people in the present. I'm eating broccoli and chicken and doing the regular things."
Still, Williams recognizes that the new generation of US track and field athletes carries a difficult burden into the 2008 trials.
"It's not our mess, but as people passionate about the sport and competing in the sport, it's our responsibility to clean it up and change the way people are viewing track and field," said Williams. "We get out there each day and show great personality and great performances, great clean performances, and that's the way we're going to bring interest back to the sport and show people that we are clean athletes."
During an Olympic year, the start of the trials usually marks the time when track and field reenters the consciousness of the average sports fan. If US athletes want to bring interest back to the sport and restore its integrity, they have a lot of work to do in the coming days. Williams probably wants to avoid photo finishes, but a few here and there at the trials might be a good place to start.
Shira Springer can be reached at springer@globe.com.
