THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Olympic gold medalist Lauryn Williams will be signing autographs in the St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital (SLWH) Performance Medicine booth at The Woodlands Marathon Health & Fitness Expo on Friday, March 1.

Williams, a current St. Luke’s Performance Medicine athlete and anchor of the 4 x 100 meter relay team that won gold and set a new world record at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, will be signing autographs and greeting fans from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The Expo is being hosted in the Six Pines Parking Lot at 9696 Six Pines Drive in The Woodlands.

Lauryn recently moved to The Woodlands in October with her boyfriend who is a local doctor in a private practice in Conroe. For the past three months she has been doing preventative training with St. Luke's Performance Medicine and additional training in College Station, where she also works part-time.

"I want to do financial planning. I got a degree in Finance from the University of Miami," said Williams. Lauryn is currently working to become a Certified Financial Planner while enjoying her new home here in Texas.

Ranked since she was 19 years old, Lauryn is a humble and thankful individual, who cares about "...anything that will make you well-rounded." When she won Olympic Gold her first thought was of redemption, after the last two teams dropped the baton mid-race. This being her third and perhaps last Olympic competition she was just thankful she had three chances at a 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity.

As Lauryn cites what she calls "universal intangible things" as the binding that allows us all to communicate regardless of language and culture, she should have no problem adapting to our unique Texas atmosphere. She loves that our southern hospitality is authentic and is having no trouble branching out in our community daily.

Lauryn will even be attending her first Houston Rodeo this weekend when she sees Mary J. Blige in concert. She is very excited about the new experience and looks forward to getting out on the dance floor to learn some line dancing.


(woodlandsonline.com)

T’erea Brown, Lauryn Williams, Brittany Viola

proCane track star T’erea Brown tweeted out a photo Friday morning of herself and fellow proCane Olympians Lauryn Williams (Gold Medal 4x100 relay) and Brittany Viola (Diving) in front of the White House. Stay tuned to more info on their visit to the White House as we hope to have all three proCane on AllCanes Radio in the near future.

LONDON -- All day, Lauryn Williams carried that familiar feeling. No, she wasn't running the individual Olympic 100-meter dash this time. But Thursday night's preliminary round of the 4x100 relay presented several pressure-packed subplots.

For one, Williams had been at least half-responsible for the United States not earning medals in Athens and Beijing, botching handoffs with Marion Jones and Torri Edwards as the anchor of those relay teams.

Then there was the matter of her personal journey to London -- losing her father, David, to cancer in the fall of 2008; leaving the sport for the '10 season to take a soul-searching mission; and coming back in '11 to find that she was no longer a dominant sprinter.

It was all supposed to mean something. In fact, it had to, and Thursday night's race was about attaining proper closure to one of the most decorated Olympic careers to have blossomed in the rolling hills of Western Pennsylvania.

Williams, a native of Rochester, had one more job to do: Receive that baton and run the last 100 meters as she has done it thousands of times. She wouldn't leave anything to chance either, continually extending her left hand behind her to receive an imaginary stick as she walked throughout the day.

"Someone laughed at me this morning," Williams said.

"I was walking in the village to meet my friend, and they were like, 'What are you doing?' "

The world found out Thursday night exactly what she was doing. She easily grabbed the baton from Bianca Knight and made a beeline for the finish line, not slowing down until Team USA's "B-Team" had coasted to a time of 41.64 seconds -- the second fastest in Olympic history (East Germany ran 41.60 in 1980).
"A total sense of relief," Williams, 28, said. "A huge weight off my shoulders. I am so blessed to have done my part and be able to watch these girls tomorrow as they go for a gold!

"It was disappointing in '04 and '08, but I'm really excited to have had this opportunity, even if it's just a preliminary, you know, it's my chance at redemption."
Williams, who got a silver medal in the 100-meter in Athens, will be in an unfamiliar position tonight, unable to control her medal fate. Faster sprinters Carmelita Jeter and Allyson Felix will take her spot and Tianna Madison, Jeneba Tarmoh or Knight will round out the team.

"We're definitely a golden team," Williams said.

After Thursday night's blazing run, it appears the United States could race any four of its six 100 runners and sprint away with gold. Trinidad & Tobago was second at 42.31 seconds.

By the time Williams got the baton, her lead was so big she could have tried to do cartwheels into the finish. Williams, of course, would do no such thing. This meant too much to her, and as soon as she clasped the stick in her hand, she felt redeemed.

"I was just like, 'I got it! Don't stop now!' " Williams said. "Even when you know you're winning, it's all the way to the finish line, because you never know. When you've got all this speed together, it could be a world record, an Olympic record, American record, whatever."

She'd have to settle for the second-best Olympic time, which could very well become the third best by tonight. Jeter, Felix, Knight and Marshevet Myers ran a 41.56 at the 2011 world championships.

Williams will be watching tonight and cheering as loudly as anyone, hoping her teammates help win her first Olympic gold.

"I wanted to show the world that even the 'B-team' for America is really, really fast," Williams said. "And you better watch out and be ready tomorrow."


(post-gazette.com)

In 2004, Williams earned a silver medal in the women’s 100-meter dash at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, but a missed handoff between her and Marion Jones cost the American women a medal in the 4x100 relay. At the 2008 Game in Bejing, another bad handoff, this time with Torri Edwards, disqualified the Americans.

But Williams is back for what could be a third try; she was selected for the relay pool after a sixth-place finish in the 100 at the U.S. Trials last month. The Times’ Chuck Curti caught up with Williams via email from London last week:

Q: Was there ever any doubt in your mind that you would try to make a third Olympic team, or was it a decision you wrestled with a bit?
A: Well I took 2010 off to decide if I would continue to run and chose to continue through 2013.

Q: At the risk of bringing up an unpleasant subject, how much did the “baton incident” from 2008 weigh into your decision if at all?
A: It did not. I find it a little more than ironic that having been a direct part of the botched handoffs of the previous two Games, I find myself on a third (Olympic) team for solely the relay. Talk about a chance at redemption.

Q: Let’s face it, you’re almost 29, and, by track standards, that’s getting up there in years. How realistic did you think it was for you to qualify in the 100 and/or 200?
A: Carmelita Jeter will be 33 this year and is the second-fastest person to exist and currently the favorite to win the women’s 100 meters. I could name four or five others on the Olympic team 30 and over, so I don’t feel limited by my age.

Q: What was your reaction to being picked for the relay pool and describe exactly what your role will be as a member of the pool.
A: I am hoping to be as helpful as those who helped me. ... Even for those who have been in the game for a while but don’t have Olympic experience I want to be a resource to them. The goal is simple: be the best supporting cast member I can be, delight in where I am now and not rush this time away.

Q: What kind of knowledge can you pass on to some of the sprinters who are at the Games for the first time?
A: The main thing is not to get overwhelmed with the pressure and excitement of it all. Do the same things you did to reach this point and you will do just fine. Don’t try to do something extraordinary. Go with what you know works.

Q: After the Games, where does your career go?
A: I have no idea. Just taking life one day at a time. I will finish out the rest of my track season running races until Sept. 9 then I will take some vacation time and decide what’s next.

Q: What do you think of Christa Harmotto, another Beaver County girl, making the Games in volleyball?
A: I don’t know her, but it is great that there is another from our area!

Q: Where do you keep your silver from the Athens Games?
A: My mom has my silver from the 2004 games in London on a mantel.


(timesonline.com)

Former Miami track star Lauryn Williams knows success. She has a 100-meter world championship to her name and a 2004 silver medal on display in her mother’s home.

But relays have been an issue. She was involved in two high-profile transition mistakes in the past two Olympic games. A failed exchange with Marion Jones cost the U.S. a medal in 2004 (video) and a drop in 2008 (video) led to a disqualification.

Now 28, the 2004 UM graduate is heading to her third Olympic games later this month in London. She didn’t qualify for the 100 meters as an individual, but she’s in the six-member relay pool for the 4×100. The past mistakes are motivation for the next round, Williams said.

“Sometimes it just doesn’t go right and there’s no rhyme or reason to it,” she said. “You practice it. You try to develop chemistry with the person, but you never know what’s going to happen on that day. That’s with any race or any sport.”

Williams will also have a familiar face at her side if ends up on the four-member relay. The U.S. will be coached by Amy Deem, the head of the UM track and field program.
Deem isn’t worried about what happened in Athens or Beijing and said those misfires won’t factor into the team structure this time.

“There were technical mistakes, but that was in the past,” Deem said. “This is a whole new group of girls. Lauryn’s run a lot of relays and she’s run them very well. … To be honest, the only time this will be talked about is when the media brings it up.”

The complete list (courtesy of UM athletics) of current and former Miami athletes/coaches who’ll be a part of the London Olympics:

Athletes Murielle Ahoure, Ivory Coast, track & field T’erea Brown, US track & field, 400m hurdles Savanah Leaf, Great Britain volleyball Ciara Michel, Great Britain volleyball Zach Railey, US sailing, finn class Rueben Ross, Canada diving, 3m synchronized Brittany Viola, US diving, 10m platform Lauryn Williams, US track & field relay pool

Coaches Randy Ableman, US diving (assistant) Amy Deem, US track & field, (women’s head coach)


(sun-sentinel.com)

Lauryn Williams is headed back to the five-ring circus. The former Miami track star was named to her third Olympic team Friday.

She will be in the relay pool for the London games starting later this month. Williams was on the 2004 and 2008 U.S. Olympic teams as a sprinter. She was the fastest American in the 100 meters both times — winning the silver medal in Athens.

She was also a member of relay teams both years that didn’t go so well. Williams couldn’t handle a baton exchange in the Beijing four years after having transition troubles with Marion Jones in the same 4X100 event.

A sixth-place finish in the trials wasn’t good enough to make the team as an individual, but put her in the running for a relay spot. The 28-year old graduated from Miami in 2004. Miami track and field coach Amy Deam will also serve as the U.S. coach in London.

Williams joins a list of eight with ‘Cane connections who’ll complete in the summer games starting July 27. Here’s the list:

Brittany Viola (diving) U.S.
Savannah Leaf (volleyball) Great Britain
Ciara Michel (volleyball) Great Britain
T’erea Brown (track and field) U.S.
Lauryn Williams (track and field) U.S.
Murielle Ahoure (track and field) Ivory Coast
Zach Railey (sailing) U.S.

Heartbreaks and near-misses have kept a former University of Miami star sprinter from a gold medal.

Lauryn Williams, the world's fastest woman in 2005, is hoping to get one more chance at redemption during the Olympic trials.

"Hopefully the third time is the charm going for gold,” she said. “I've had some ups and downs, but I am really looking forward to the ups again.”
Williams will be without her biggest fan for the first time. Her dad, David, died after a long battle with leukemia and kidney disease in 2008. He underwent dialysis while watching her previous trips to the Olympics.

Her father’s death was just part of the reason Williams took a year off in 2010.

"Success sometimes, it can be overwhelming," she said. "Skydiving, skiing, flag football, you name it. I pretty much did it in 2010. All really cool experiences and ways to get out and kind of explore."

But once she returned to the Coral Gables track she calls home, adjusting didn't come easy. Williams didn't make the world championship team in 2011 and suffered disappointment.

"You think because you've done it, you can do it again because you're focused, but honestly it doesn't quite work like that," she said.

Now she’s training at the University of Miami with her college coach, Amy Deem, and is optimistic again.

"I'm back to that place where there is nothing to lose, and not because I’m 20 years old again, but because now I understand and have experience that it's not the end of the road when you don't win and life does go on,” she said. "So I think that 2012 will be that much sweeter for me making this team because I've really experienced all the different aspects of it now."

Deem agreed.

“It’s been a rough couple of years for her,” Deem told NBC 6. “I’ve seen a lot of great things this year in practice. I’ve seen her doing things she hasn’t done in years, if at all, so I’m very excited about where she is. It’s just a matter of being able to do it when it really counts.”

Williams did not qualify in the 100-meter dash over the weekend, but will race in the 200 meters this week.


(nbcmiami.com)

EUGENE, Ore. -- After her race was over, Lauryn Williams didn't stick around to watch the three women taking their victory lap around Hayward Field, slapping high fives with one hand and waving a miniature American flag with the other.

In between the semifinals and the final of the 100-meter dash Saturday at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field trials, Williams spent some time visualizing herself in that all-too-familiar position. She allowed herself to believe that this moment could once again be hers to share with the world.
"I told myself, 'I want one of those flags,' " said Williams, a Rochester native. "I even pictured the announcer saying 'Lauryn, you did it for a third time! How's it feel?' "

If she hadn't known how to dream big, she never would have made one Olympics, let alone two. But on Saturday night, as the yellow rays finally burst through the gray northwestern sky and bounded onto the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, it became clear from the moment the gun went off in the final that this night likely would signify the sun setting on Williams' sterling Olympic career.

She started too slow and knew it right away. Running in Lane 8, a station she earned by squeaking through the semifinals, the real race for London was being run on the other side of the straightaway, and she never could catch up to Carmelita Jeter (10.92 seconds), Tianna Madison (10.96) and Jeneba Tarmoh (11.07), who would take those flags that Williams envisioned as hers. Tarmoh's third-place finish was later called into question when officials declared a dead heat with Allyson Felix for the third and final spot. Officials from USA Track and Field were meeting late Saturday night to make a determination on how to resolve issue for the third spot on the Olympic team.

No matter. It didn't affect Williams. She finished sixth with a time of 11.18 seconds, and she admitted that, this time around, just making the final felt like an accomplishment. Once she was there, she looked around at those other women and gave herself a pep talk.

"I just told myself I deserve this as much as the other seven people on the line," Williams said. "I've worked as hard as them, if not harder. I've beaten everyone on that line at some point or another. Why not today be the day when I beat them again?"

From the time she woke up Saturday, this day was either going to be the end or the beginning of something truly special.

If it was the end, then it was the denouement of one of the best Olympic careers to come out of Western Pennsylvania in recent memory. Williams first realized that she was fast when her late father, David, took her to the Carnegie Science Museum as a child and she beat the time of a hologram rendering of 100-meter legend Florence Griffith-Joyner. After three years at the University of Miami, as a 20-year-old, she took the track world by storm, winning the silver medal in the 100 at the 2004 Athens Games.

If it was the beginning, then it was a tale of personal redemption and growth that would be told over and over again for the next month on the way to London. Williams had to leave the track behind in 2010 to realize how much she still had inside of her. Coming back was a different kind of experience. She didn't even make the final in the 2011 national championships, missing out on the world championships for the first time.

Still, she did not stop. She employed a small army -- a chef and a massage therapist and a lot of friends -- to help her get to Saturday with a fighting chance.

"I've totally been humbled by it all," Williams said.

She ran an 11.15 in the semifinals earlier Saturday, and it worked out that she was the final person to qualify. That put her in Lane 8 for the final, thinking about a transatlantic trip and one last shot at Olympic glory. But it didn't happen for her this time.

She will continue to race until her contract with Saucony ends next year, but she said it's doubtful she will be at the 2016 Olympic trials running for a shot at Brazil.

Williams will compete in the 200 meters later this week, but it would appear to be a long shot. The 100 is the event that has been her inspiration, her loyal partner all these years, and she gave it a worthy and meaningful final dance.


(post-gazette.com)

EUGENE, Ore. -- For the past year, as Lauryn Williams trained for these U.S. Olympic track and field trials, she held close the belief that the sprinter who led her country's efforts in the 100-meter dash in Athens and Beijing was still somewhere inside of her.

That belief was necessary because the results weren't coming for Williams, a Rochester native who won silver in the 2004 Games and finished fourth in '08. She had taken a year off from competition in '10 to do some soul searching, hoping to experience the normal life of a 20-something, figuring that she would return to the track and soon pick up where she left off.

It has been a humbling couple of years. But Williams, 28, finally may have had a breakthrough.

Her coach, Amy Deem, wanted Williams to run under 11 seconds before the trials, which begin today at University of Oregon's historic Hayward Field. Williams entered the Pure Athletics and NTC Last Chance Meet June 2 with a year-best time of 11.17 but fired off an 11.01 in the preliminaries, followed up by a 10.96 in the final.

The breakthrough wasn't so much in the time, which approached her personal-best 10.88, set in 2005 at the top of her game. It was that she felt good before the race and her performance matched that intuition.

So maybe, when she races tonight in the qualifying round and potentially Saturday in the semifinals and final, she can find the same chemistry between preparation and execution.

"The main thing was the feeling that I had," Williams said. "It's a matter of getting fit and getting race sharp. The feeling starts to come with time. I've never had it the first race of the season. The feeling is one of those indescribable things ... 'hey, everything is clicking.' "

This is likely to be Williams' final push at Olympic glory, and, if she is to make trip to London, it could be seen as her greatest accomplishment. She always has fashioned herself as a runner who rises to the occasion, and it appears as if this would be the ultimate test. Judging by the qualifying marks of runners such as Carmelita Jeter (10.70) and Allyson Felix (10.92), Williams likely would have to run one of the fastest races of her life seven years after she previously set a personal record.

"I'm excited about getting out there and going with what I got," Williams said. "At this point, there's no point whining or crying about soreness and stuff like that. I feel like I'm in just as good of shape as anybody else, and anyone can do it, and it might as well be me."

Williams will still have hope if she doesn't make the team in the 100. She will be competing in the 200 as well and says she has put more of an emphasis on that event than she did in her two previous trips to the trials.

The 200 will take place June 28-30.

Williams will be joined in the 100 and 200 by former Penn State sprinter Connie Moore, who won the 2010 U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 200. Moore, 30, was 0.01 away from making the '04 Olympic team in the 200.

"I'm going to the trials with the mindset of having fun," said Moore, a native of Chicago. "I've come to learn, when I look at my great races, my outlook was, I'm back on the playground playing with friends again, racing on the streets with no shoes and no socks on."


(post-gazette.com)

In a pair of individual performances at the Athletics Brazil Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro yesterday, Sheniqua Ferguson clocked 11.30 for second as she edged out American Lauryn Williams, who did 11.32. Brazil's Rosângela Santos won the race in 11.21.

Ferguson's time was well off her season's best of 11.07, the fastest posted so far by any other Bahamian.


(tribune242.com)

MIAMI -- Her friends kept walking through the door, wearing black and purple, the colors of mourning. Lauryn Williams certainly wasn't dead, but the girl they knew had been retreating further and further inside for years now, and they felt she needed to know this was serious.

Williams was glad to see them, but as they arrived unannounced at her mother's home, one after the other, she got the feeling they hadn't ventured to suburban Miami for a backyard barbecue.

Since becoming the World's Fastest Woman in 2005, Williams' life had not gone according to plan. It was now August 2011, and she had not recorded another personal best. Even worse, her times had plummeted after taking the 2010 season off from intense training.

It was during that leave from the heat of competition that she was supposed to have found clarity. The 2009 season was her first without the bullish support of her father, longtime Rochester and Beaver County resident David Williams, who died of leukemia in October 2008. She realized that she was no longer running for herself and that, after so many consecutive years on the track, she truly didn't know who she was past Lauryn Williams, 2004 Olympic silver medalist.

She had heard stories about people who had gone out searching and actually found themselves, and this would be her personal period of discovery, her own chapter of "Eat, Pray, Love." She went sky diving, hurtling through the South Florida humidity and landing in the farmland of Homestead, Fla., invigorated. She went snow skiing, played in an organized women's flag football league and traveled to Italy with her best friend, riding in a gondola in Venice. Most important to her, she ate whatever she wanted.

When she returned from her exploration, it was right back to the track, and all she'd really acquired were more fantastic experiences and some extra weight on her muscular 5-foot-2 frame.

"It didn't work," says Jamillah Wade, Williams' friend who accompanied her to Italy. "We thought that the more we did it, we'd figure it out at some point. But nothing worked. She didn't figure anything out that she didn't already know."

In 2011, Williams failed to make the world championships for the first time in her career. Throughout a deflating few months, her bright and bubbly personality became gloomy too often. If she were going to make the 2012 U.S. Olympic team -- and become the young woman she wanted to be at the same time -- something had to change.

Wade and Williams' mother, Donna Williams, talked with a few other friends and decided they would meet with Lauryn and give her a jolt. They had indulged her impulses in hope of a new direction, and now it was their turn to offer a blueprint. They called it an "intervention."

That day, the group showed her a PowerPoint presentation, accompanied by music, with about 15 slides that listed her current "unLaurynlike" qualities. The tone alternated between heavy and light as Lauryn sat there overwhelmed, a tight bundle of conflicting emotions.

"Incredibly low," she says, "but also, just happy at the same time. Here are all these people outwardly expressing love, that they want what's best for me. It was a fight-or-flight thing. You can't roll over and give up."

During the presentation, the group suggested possible stimuli to help fuel her transition: Should she switch coaches? Should she move away from Miami after a decade here? The only certainty in that room was that Lauryn Williams, surrounded by the kind of blunt advocation her father could appreciate, was going to fight.

A regretful ending
David Williams had held strong so many times for his family, Lauryn would begin to assume the best in times of trouble. Repeatedly, he had knocked on death's door and had come back swinging harder than ever, so, when she heard her father was sick this time, it didn't immediately register as urgent.

"He was always one of those people that was so tough," Lauryn says. "People would tell you that he was sick, and you'd go, 'How sick?' That's what he taught us. He didn't want it to be a big deal."

On a Sunday morning in October 2008, Lauryn booked a Tuesday flight to Pittsburgh to see him in her hometown of Rochester. He died the day she booked the flight.

Lauryn was never one to show her emotions, and she came to Rochester for the funeral in a rigid state, considering the circumstances. They had not ended on the best terms. She had pulled away as he was trying to bring her close in what would be his final days, and she did not get to say goodbye. But she listened to the eulogies given by a cousin and a childhood acquaintance, both of whom David had taken under his wing as children and shepherded to better lives, and Lauryn's stubbornness became all too clear.

"It was the moment I realized, 'God, I've totally screwed this up, and now he's dead,' " Lauryn says. "I figured he would fly out of the casket, but he didn't. I had a lot of regret. I didn't really know that he was going to die."

From the moment that sixth-grader Lauryn moved in with David's new family in Rochester, her sprinting became a joint venture. It was David who took her to the Carnegie Science Center and encouraged her time after time to race against the video of former Olympic sprinter Florence Griffith-Joyner until she beat FloJo's time. That's when David was convinced he had a special talent on his hands.

It was David, the Trinidad and Tobago native with the booming baritone, who would drive her to races all over the Midwest and make sure to be the last voice she heard before the gun went off.

It was David who captured the country's imagination in 2004, traveling to watch his 20-year-old diva of a daughter compete in the Athens Olympics despite having to undergo daily dialysis treatments in a Greek hospital.

That year, in just her third season at the University of Miami, Lauryn won the NCAA championship in the 100 meters and, before she knew it, she was America's best chance at gold in the marquee event. She had a baby face, a sweet smile and a father who wouldn't take no for an answer. David was able to go thanks to a $10,000 donation from Sewickley Heights businessman Tim Wiebe, a cancer survivor himself.

On the ground in Greece, David sat at a McDonald's and did an interview with USA Today. The headline of the story read, "At the Olympics, a father's love knows no limits." Lauryn and David were Olympic darlings, and he'd look on with the rest of the family as she brought home the silver. Cameras found David and showed him on the video board at Olympic Stadium.

He was there for the inglorious finishes, too. In the 4x100 meter relay final, Lauryn, the anchor of the relay, had a failed exchange with Marion Jones, disqualifying the U.S. team from medal contention. By the time Lauryn received the baton from Jones, she had gone too far from her starting spot. Lauryn admitted afterward that she had left too early, but David was having none of that.

"She was primed and ready to go," David said. "Marion Jones just dropped the ball."

As the 2008 Beijing Games approached, David was sick again, and doctors wouldn't clear him to go. He watched from afar as Lauryn finished fourth in the 100 behind three Jamaican sprinters and suffered another botched handoff in the 4x100 relay that eliminated the U.S. for a second straight Olympics. David always said that Lauryn ran better when he was there, and there's little doubt that thought crossed his mind at home in Rochester.

Within three months, David was gone forever, and Lauryn was back in Miami, training for a 2009 season that never had her full focus. But it wasn't as if she was spending much time processing the loss of her father.

"I've never seen Lauryn cry," says Wade, who met Lauryn when the two ran for Miami. "After he died, I expected a lot more out of her. I expected her to grieve and go through this whole process, but she didn't. It was almost like, you wait for the breakdown, and the breakdown never happened."

Many in the world of track and field would view Lauryn's decision to walk away from the sport that had bestowed upon her fame, glory and a jet-setting existence as a breakdown in judgment. Her coaches and trainers, the people she trusted most, warned her that she may never be the same if she came back.

Lauryn weighed her options and couldn't shake what her gut was telling her. She had been sprinting nonstop since she was 9 years old, and maybe it was time to start running a new race.

Free falling
David and Donna Williams raised a well-rounded daughter. At Miami, Lauryn earned a finance degree. Then she added a real estate license. In 2008, as she trained for Beijing, she got an online MBA from the University of Phoenix. And she loved to cook -- a talent that was sure to draw the man of her dreams.

Except, when Lauryn came home each day to the suburban Miami home that she purchased as a 20-year-old with her first Nike contract, no Mr. Right was waiting for her, and she didn't have the time to cook anyway, opting instead for most of her meals at Donna's place.

Lauryn's life had been pretty fabulous. She knew that. But who's life was she living? And where was it going to take her once her powerful legs stopped moving as fast?

"It's just been really tough trying to define what it is for myself," Lauryn says. "I know I'm talented, I know I'm gifted, and this is a wonderful opportunity that I won't be able to do forever, but, at the same time, I've never really been as defined by track and field. It's never been my thing the same way it has for some of my friends in the sport who want to be legendary and stuff like that."

Lauryn didn't directly inform her mother that she was taking a year off from track. But Donna started to figure it out when her daughter was spending more time lying on her sofa than making the commute to Coral Gables for practice.

Amy Deem, Lauryn's coach at Miami, understood her star runner's need for personal time, but she also had never heard of a runner in her prime years taking a year off for anything other than pregnancy or to recover from injury. But this was Lauryn's journey, and they'd have to let her go.
There was snow skiing in New England with Donna and family friends. Lauryn skied for three days and was bold enough to attempt a black diamond slope her final day.

"I was totally freaked out!" she says. "I was like, 'Why'd you bring me up here?' "

She got down the mountain, navigating the moguls carefully, and then it was back to Miami, where rapper Trick Daddy invited her to play on his women's flag football team.

The plan was to just send Lauryn deep and throw it up to her for touchdown after touchdown, but there was a catch -- Lauryn had no hands.
"I was horrible," she says. "I lack coordination. They were looking at me like I was going to be the go-to person. They'd throw it to me, and it'd be on the ground. It definitely gave me a new respect for players."

Throughout her time away, finding a man became a priority. Lauryn had been meeting most of the men she dated in the track world, so Wade wanted to get her out and about in more normal settings. Each Wednesday, Wade took her to a spot where they could mingle.

Lauryn met attorneys, doctors, you name it, but nobody fully clicked with her.

"'I suck at dating," she says.

Wade has an explanation.

"Lauryn is extremely picky about guys," Wade says. "So we were trying to find a perfect guy. Who is he? Where is he? We couldn't find him. She's extremely intelligent, and she gets bored easily."

Lauryn had one final deeper mission that she wanted to complete before returning to the track in 2011. In December 2010, she traveled to Trinidad for 10 days, seeking to feel closer to -- and closure with -- her father.

Much of David's family was still there, and this place was a part of her she never knew. Her father was an expert cook, having opened a restaurant in Aliquippa, and she wanted to learn how to cook his Trinidadian dishes such as chicken curry.

"It did put me a little more in touch with him," Lauryn says. "The culture as a Trinidadian kid, we never really embraced it. We were American kids with a Trinidadian father. I just really wanted to get a feel for what it was like."

She came back to the track rejuvenated, expecting a seamless return. When that didn't happen, when she had to watch women she believed were lesser runners celebrating because they'd beaten Lauryn Williams, it humbled and depressed her.

The intervention was coming, and tough questions would be asked. How was she going to fix it? She began talking with coaches from around the country about working with them in preparation for this summer's London Games, and she strongly considered moving to Austin or Dallas in the fall. But Lauryn stayed loyal to Deem, who had been by her side for a decade.

Still, she had to get out of this rut. She began researching condos in downtown Miami, places that would make her feel 28 years old instead of 38 and put her in the position to meet that perfect guy.

On Oct. 1, she left behind her safe suburban life and moved into a 52nd-floor condo overlooking Biscayne Bay and Miami Beach. Whatever was going to happen in 2012, it was going to come with a breathtaking view.

This one's for Lauryn
A day with Lauryn Williams at 28 is full of contradictions.

Traveling on the above-ground Miami Metro Rail from her condo to her physical therapy session, she takes an elevator to go down.
"Sprinters are the laziest people," she says.

Yet, riding in her silver Honda RidgeLine pickup truck to go grocery shopping at Whole Foods on South Beach, it takes every bit of restraint she has not to run a woman on a yellow scooter off the road.

"I just hate these little scooters!" she says. "She's holding up my life right now! Why would it take us 10 minutes to get there when it can take us five! Complete disaster!"

Her patience comes and goes, but the infectious smile and excitable tone of voice rarely leave her.

She has reinvested in her running -- doubling down one last time on a bet that her body will follow along with her mind and rise to the occasion. Trainer Lisa Kearns, who has trained professional athletes such as Mike Piazza and Ty Law, is in charge of the body.

Lauryn leans back on a padded bench, letting Kearns tweak her tissue and muscles.

"A Ferrari," Lauryn says. "I require lots of love and care."

Everybody laughs. Even when Lauryn is taking care of her career responsibilities, the reality that she's a vibrant young woman who is still searching for life fulfillment is never far away.

"I'm gonna meet a guy today!" she announces to Kearns. "I'm putting it into the universe!"

Kearns says it still remains to be seen whether the year away can become a positive for Lauryn's running. While she wants to make the Olympic team for the third straight time -- the trials are June 21 to July 1 in Eugene, Ore.-- her overall goal is to run another personal best, beating her previous mark of 10.88 seconds. Her best time this season is 11.17, and Deem says that for her to make the team she likely would have to approach her personal record.

There's no question Lauryn has put everything into it. Since September, she has been on a mostly vegan and raw food diet, chipping away at the pounds she added in 2010. Her weight fluctuates more now -- a product of getting older -- but her mind is in the right place. Recently, she stopped dating a man she met in her building because he was unwilling to change his unhealthy eating habits. Nothing will get in her way -- for now.

What if she doesn't make it to London? Some close to her won't hear that as a possibility.

"Oh, heck yes, she's got another in her," Donna Williams says. "Unequivocally. And I think she could have another one in her after that. I'm seriously looking forward to going to London. I'm not accepting anything less!"

Lauryn knows her mother is banking on another magical trip overseas, and she often can feel her father watching her from above, rooting her forward. But she says she's doing it for herself this time.

Eight months after her friends voluntarily came to her aid, the sense is that Lauryn's move downtown has renewed her in some way. Maybe it's the view, maybe it's the new diet, maybe it's the daily interaction with the city folk on the public train. Whatever it is, it is better than it was.

"Lauryn is extremely happy right now," Wade says. "She is very stable. Emotionally, she's in the best state of mind I've seen her in the last two years."

Lauryn feels it, too. If she doesn't make the Olympics, she says she will be OK. Her desires of more Olympic medals now mingle with dreams of opening up a food truck with her mother in downtown Miami.

The best sign that Lauryn Williams might have one more burst of glory in her? A month ago, Wade noticed that Lauryn had changed her status and picture on her BlackBerry messenger account.

The picture now shows Lauryn years ago, at the top of her game. The message with it? She's somewhere in me.


(post-gazette.com)

Walnut, USA – World-leading and stadium record marks by Brittney Reese in the women’s Long Jump and Frenchman Jamale Aarrass in the Mile along with a brisk but windy 100m run by Walter Dix were among the highlights of the three-day Mt. San Antonio College Relays which concluded Saturday (21) at Hilmer Lodge Stadium.

Warm temperatures that approached 30 C. produced other quick sprint marks. In the women’s 100m, Lauryn Williams won in 11.17 to edge Michelle Ahye (TRI), who was second in 11.19, and Me’Lisa Barber (11.20). Leslie Cole defeated Blessing Okagbare (NGR) to win the women's 200m, 22.63 to 22.70.


(iaaf.org)

proCane track star Murielle Ahoure posted 7.13secs to win the women’s 60m dash at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston. Fellow proCane American Lauryn Williams was last in 7.34.

We'll I'm off and running ...literally.

Lauryn Williams got to compete in the same meet as her sister Erikka, who is nine years younger and a freshman at South Alabama, recently.

Last week the 2012 season began for me in Birmingham, AL. The new Crossplex there is state of the art and I was excited to open up in such a nice facility. With a fast track and feeling fit it I was set to start off with a bang.

Some technical errors, more than likely because I was just so excited, caused me to have two less-than-stellar starts. In the 60m you don't have a whole lot of room for error and the mistakes cost me dearly but I felt FAST and am optimistic this week will go better.

It was neat to be in the same competition venue with my youngest sister for the first time. Erikka is the youngest of 8 and a freshman in college at University of South Alabama.

With us being 9 years apart and eligible to compete in the same arena I feel old!! Yet, the other day a guy in high school hit on me so I must still look young, LOL!!

Maturity and experience haven't cured me of new season jitters but hopefully I got rid of all them last week and can put together a good race for my first professional meet tomorrow.

I am in Boston for New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. I race Saturday but it will be televised 2/5/12 2:00 PM on ESPN2. Tune in for what I hope to be the 1st victory of many on the road to London!


(universalsports.com)

I have tried to post something at least 5 times since nationals but just couldn't find a way to describe my thoughts. Actually, I didn't even know what I was thinking.

I have been very fortunate to have been so successful so many years consecutively. Knowing some of the obstacles I've faced leading up to big races in the past I felt adequately prepared to face whatever might come my way as I headed into the 2001 season. Yet, this year I faced obstacles I was not equipped to deal with and never saw coming.
To finish the season so poorly without injury or some other stroke of explainable misfortune and live it all out very publicly has been very hard.
Easiest thing to do would be stay home, hide and make up some grand excuse but there are none. I had hoped to begin the season with the same stellar marks as my main competitors, have a consistent string of sub11 performances, a personal best, make the world team and win it! I am healthy, talented and just as capable of these things as anyone running right now. I just am not getting it done.

Dozens of factors and variables may have played a part so I cannot attribute it to any one thing. The truth is without balance one aspect of life is capable of smothering another. I have to get a grip, get professional and do my job or be left at home again next year.

One thing I will address is my weight as there has been much speculation about it. I did race heavier this year but have not been gaining weight all season long. I have been consistently the same weight week in and out since February. However, I could stand to loose a pound or seven from what I consider my true race weight of previous years. I remember in 2004 Coach Deem telling me no more media after a particularly aggressive interviewer grilled her with questions. When I asked what kinds of things he asked she said one was if she was worried about my weight being a problem as I aged and I laughed.
Little did I know that his crystal ball worked better than mine and in the future this wouldn't be funny.

This year I have learned that it is not until your at your lowest that you recognize and appreciate those who have been telling you they love you all along. Recently, I realized that though things could be going A LOT better, I have never in my life felt more loved than I do right now.

So thank you to those my inner circle who despite my subjecting them to poor attitude far more than anyone should have to put up with another's negativity have continued to encourage me day in and day out. I am also thankful for encouraging words of friends, family, colleagues, competitors, agents, coaches and hundreds of people on Facebook who are rooting for me to continue on because they know I have yet to reach my full potential.

I am choosing to keep working at it, not give up and know that the best is yet to come!


(universalsports.com)

EUGENE, Ore. — Tired and burned out of track, sprinter Lauryn Williams went searching for thrills of adventure over victory.

To rekindle her waning passion, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist tried sky diving and snow skiing along with retracing her family's roots with a trip to Trinidad.

The rush of those experiences snapped Williams out of her rut and got her head back into the sprint game.

Stepping away from the sport is no longer a consideration for the 27-year-old Williams, who's entered in the 100 and 200 at the U.S. championships this weekend.

She's all in as she sets her sights on making the team for the 2012 London Olympics.

First, though, she had to make sure the drive still remained, which is why she dabbled in thrill-seeking activities during breaks last season in a year that featured no major meets.

"I took a step back from track, to give myself a chance to miss it, to miss competing," Williams said in a recent phone interview.

She enjoyed sky diving, but for someone so used to speed, the experience wasn't all she was expecting.

"The guy pushes you out of that plane, you can't breathe for a second and you're going down. That's it," she said. "(The rush) lasts like 10 seconds."

That's about the same amount of time it takes Williams to motor down the track in the 100. Her best time in the 100 is 10.88, a mark she sent in 2005.

She knows that's far from good enough to keep up with the field these days. Fellow American Carmelita Jeter has turned in the fastest time of this era, clocking 10.64 seconds in 2009. Only the late Florence Griffith-Joyner has run faster (10.49).

Not only that but the balance of power on the women's side has considerably shifted over the last three seasons, with the Jamaicans becoming the ones to beat.

"The 100 is very stacked, really a deep event right now," Williams said. "So when you think you've worked hard enough, you've got to work even harder."

And incorporate some wrinkles into the workout regimen. That's what led Williams to take up the hurdles, a way to increase her acceleration and power as she hops, skips and walks over the obstacles.

"If I see one more hurdle, I'm going to rename myself Lolo Jones," the diminutive Williams said, chuckling at the reference to the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials champion.

But don't expect an event switch.

"There are no hurdles in my future!" she said.

In her break from track, Williams took a trip to Trinidad to visit where her father was from. It's been a tough stretch for Williams since losing her dad, David Williams, to leukemia nearly three years ago.

Gone with her father went all those pep talks. He had a way to take her mind off her worries.

The Trinidad trip was quite therapeutic as Williams cooked meals and chatted with a side of her family she's getting to know better.

"It gave me my insight into my dad, tied it all together for me," she said.

Williams also tried snow skiing in New Hampshire, played friendly games of flag football and went on an extended expedition to Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama.

Through all her experiences, Williams revived her passion.

"It's no secret I've got talent inside of me," the former University of Miami standout said. "But if you're not going to put the hard work and training behind the talent, you might be a mediocre athlete at best, not a good athlete at all."


(seattletimes.com)

Well, there are less than 10 days until the first day of competition at the USA Outdoor Championships.

The last two races have gone incredibly wrong and without a whole lot of explanation. Obviously, this was not in the grand comeback plan. The key is not to panic and to continue to think positive.

Easier said than done, but I know the mental aspect of track and field is just as important as the physical, and I have trained too hard to let my brain talk me out of thinking I can make this team. I have trained well and believe I am ready to race well.

One good thing I experienced in New York was a trip to a community outreach center called The Door in Soho.

The resources provided are so broad, and really provide the support a young adult may need to get on a path to success. Services include but are not limited to food, shelter, counseling, GED programs, creative arts, health and dental check ups, jobs and recreational sports.

I spent a short time sharing with the members about my personal journey, then hung out for open mic night. The talents displayed showed how great having an outlet to share with other creates positive energy. I love being able to spend time with and encourage those younger than me to continue to reach for the stars no matter what obstacles have come their way.

It is my intent to practice what I preach and show up in Eugene with winning energy and attitude.

See you in Oregon!


(universalsports.com)

For years, there wasn't a major track meet where you didn't see sprinter Lauryn Williams contending for medals. A world champion and Olympic medalist, the 5-foot-3, 127-pound powerhouse shined in the 100-meter dash.

In 2008, though, that all changed. Williams could still run faster than most women on earth, but that untouchable force field that made her one of the most decorated sprinters in U.S. history was deteriorating. While the world watched Williams' and teammate Torri Edward's bungled baton exchange -- and eventual disqualification -- in the 4x100-meter relay finals of the Olympic Games in Beijing, they were watching a star falling from her precipice atop a sport she'd dominated for half a decade.

"My heart wasn't in it anymore," said Williams, 28, noting that along with her faltering dedication to running, she had also been rocked by the death of her father, David, in October, 2008. "I had been competing for seven seasons as a pro and just didn't have the same motivation."
So, after her third-consecutive appearance at the world championships in August, 2009, where she placed fifth in the 100 meters, Williams quietly -- and temporarily -- stepped away from competition. It was time to mourn. To refocus. To refresh.

Instead of retreating to a pity party or escaping into anguish while pressing pause on her career, Williams celebrated her newfound freedom. Living in Miami, the Pittsburgh native found herself thirsting to try all of the things she had to sacrifice as an elite athlete. She took a part-time position at University of Miami, her alma mater, counseling student athletes. She skydived. Skied. Played flag football. Relaxed. Ate anything she wanted to.

"I didn't have a list of things I wanted to do, but if I had the opportunity to try it, I did," she said. "I was up for anything and had a lot of fun."
She also took time to connect with her family, a move she felt was especially important after her father's death following a long battle with Leukemia. "I have three younger sisters and I had the chance to actually spend time with them, instead of just calling home once in a while," Williams said. "I went to their graduations, drove them to college and developed relationships with my extended family."

Meanwhile, track and field continued without Williams. As rivals like fellow American Carmelita Jeter and Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser turned in quicker-than-ever performances, she felt the tug of competition pulling her back to the track. So last year, Williams began training in earnest for the 2011 season with her longtime coach, Amy Deem, who also leads the women's track and field program at the University of Miami. Deem infused more power-focused workouts into her training regime, shaking things up by adding hurdle and having her lifting heavier weights. The goal? To increase her explosiveness out of the blocks, then literally muscle her way to the finish line of both sprint events.

"If you stick with the same old thing, you get complacent. So we used different workouts to shock the system," Williams said.

The approach seems to be working. Earlier this year, Williams made a seamless return to the sport, clocking a world-leading 22.65 200-meter at the Hurricane Invitational at the University of Miami. She then went on to win the women's 100 meters at the Kansas Relays in late April. She's racing nearly every weekend within the next two months. The focus of her season is the USA Championships in June in Eugene, Ore., where she will try to qualify for the 2011 world championships, to be held late this summer in South Korea.

And while the sight of her powering her way to the finish line may be a familiar one, Williams says she sees herself as a brand-new athlete.
"I'm much more peaceful now, and wiser," Williams said, adding that qualifying for her third-straight Olympic Games in 2012 is her No. 1 focus. "Taking time off helped me put all of my ducks in a row. I know where I'm going and how I'm going to get there."



(w.espn.com)

Wednesday, April 20, 4-6pm – iRun, 5050 Biscayne Blvd., Miami

Meet & Greet with Olympic Athlete Lauryn Williams: 2004 100m Olympic Silver Medalist & 2007 100m World Champion. Wednesday, April 20th, 4pm to 6pm at IRunCompany, Miami’s newest and greatest specialty running store. Giveaways & autograph signings plus treats provided by Bagel Emporium and Grille and I Drink Vita Coco (100% Natural Coconut Water).



(soflanights.com)

After much contemplation, I have decided to join the social networking tool I swore I would never use.

It is official I am a twitter or am I am tweeter?...oh whatever you know what I mean!

I have just been on 7 days and am still very overwhelmed by it all. You have people who say things just to invoke shock, those who literally tell you their every move and those who converse with just one person but instead of texting privately go back and forth in a forum the world can see. And, how in the world do they expect me to convey a complete thought in just 160 characters that is nearly impossible for any good communicator!

I am still not completely sold on it usefulness as it seems to be more of a deterrent from caring on with things in life that could be considered productive. However, I have enjoyed reading some NFL Players bantering with one another and the continuous updates about the looming lockout.

As I type I have 109 followers and have tweeted 15 times. After doing some research my competitive spirit got he best of me and I decided I needed to set a follower goal. I see President Obama has 6 million followers and Oprah is right behind with 5 million. Not wanting to set such a lofty goal I have settled on trying to surpass the infamous ‘Usain Bolt' in followers.

I figure since I can't compete with him on the track why not challenge his 81,000 followers. I do realize that he as an advantage as he probably
literally has a whole country following him however I think I can take him. If for some reason I fail at this my secondary goal would be to always have more followers than my mother (@blondimomma) who coincidentally joined Twitter the same day as me.

I have given myself 2 simple guidelines so as not to get sucked into the world of unproductiveness cause by becoming consumed with this apparatus.

• No more than 3 tweets a day.
• I will not follow more people than I have followers.

Coming up with a name was the hardest part as all the cool names I came up with had been taken. So I am simply @laurynCwilliams.

Follow me



(universalsports.com)

It wasn't at the finish line, but at the start, when sprinter Lauryn Williams knew she was back.

Before she stepped into the blocks for the women's 60-meter final at the Millrose Games on Jan. 28 at Madison Square Garden, Williams battled a surge of emotions that had been missing from her racing for a long time.

It was an old friend called anxiety.

"I had the kind of butterflies that I hadn't really experienced at all in 2009," she said. "It was all coming back for that first race."

For Williams, 27, dealing with her nerves again settled her in a way that only she understood: "They convinced me that I made the right decision."

Williams, the 100-meter world outdoor champion in 2005 and 2004 Olympic silver medalist, is back on the track after taking a year off from competition. She didn't race in 2010, she said, because she realized midway through the 2009 season that her heart wasn't in it.

"I was just existing," Williams, a Detroit native, said last week by phone from Miami, Fla., where she has made her home since graduating from the University of Miami (Fla.) in 2004. "Looking back, now having a chance to reflect on it, I would say it was a solid 2009, but it was the first time I was going through the motions. I even said to myself at the time, 'Even though you're going through the motions, you can still make the world championship team and make it to the finals' -- which I did (finishing fifth).

"But I didn't want to be out there getting fifth place and participating -- just competing to compete. So I decided to take a break, to regroup and get myself back together so that when I do step on the track, I'm stepping onto it to do my best and reach a higher level of competition."

It didn't take Williams long to find the reason she lost her passion for the sport.

In October 2008 -- two months after finishing fourth in the 100 in the Beijing Olympics -- her father, David Williams, died of leukemia at 55.

"It wasn't until June or July of '09 that it really did hit me," Lauryn said. "I tried to call him one day and realized, 'I can't call him. He's dead.' "

With the support of her mother, Donna Williams, and longtime coach Amy Deem -- whom this past week was named the U.S. women's track and field head coach for the 2012 Olympics -- she gave herself time to heal and explore life away from the sport.

"Lauryn is a very bright young woman," Deem said Friday. "I wanted her to reflect. I said, 'Don't come back if you can't commit. Don't come back halfway.' I wanted her to figure out how much it meant."

Williams, who has a degree in finance and a real estate license, became involved in a faith-based camp for athletes last year that she said challenged her "to go above what you're physically capable of, in addition to mentally and spiritually."

She signed with a new shoe sponsor (Saucony). She began working 20 hours a week in the athletic department at Miami as a life skills and community relations coordinator. Williams said the job is up her alley; she helps students become "well-rounded individuals."

As for Williams' track future? Count her in.

Before racing well in her indoor debut of the season last month in New York -- Williams took second in the 60-meter final to Veronica Campbell-Brown in 7.22 seconds -- she gathered her "team" at a dinner at her house. She told them of her commitment to go for her third Olympics in 2012.

As for 2010, don't call it a lost year, Williams said, because the time away gave her the chance to address the two biggest questions in her life: "Who am I?'' and "Where am I going?"

Williams said: "I'm closer to the person I want to be."

(freep.com)

View more videos at: http://www.nbcmiami.com.

Olympic medalist and former Miami Hurricane Lauryn Williams talks to us about her track career and her preparation for the upcoming World Games and 2012 Olympics.



(nbcmiami.com)

I can confidently say I have turned a corner in my faith in the last year or so. On my quest to become stronger in my faith, I've done a lot more seeking than I have in the past  and I'm learning what a personal relationship with God looks like. At this point in the journey, two experiences stand out, Athlete In Aciton's Ultimate Training Camp and The Impact movement's Impact 2010 Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

This summer I participated in AIA's Ultimate Training Camp, which I would recommend for every athlete. This camp was a great place for me to begin to understand that God has gifted athletes with talent's and abilities. I was able to apply biblical principles to the way I live and compete as a response for the gifts God has given me.

In December, I went to Impact 2010, a conference put on by The Impactmovement. Traditionally the conference has been held every other year for the African American college student and young professional, but now has a high school track. You can check out archived sessions of the conference at www.impact10.com.

For me Impact is a new school approach to GOD.  The Hip-Hop, Neo Soul R&B vibe happens without selling out or misrepresenting or changing God's truths. The speakers spend time addressing the things that interest this age group such as dating, sexuality, finances, and why you shouldn't be afraid to share your faith. They also have seminars to help further one's spiritual growth in other aspects regardless of where one is their walk with GOD. I was unaware that there are so many resources such as books, music and apparel available.

I tried to attend as Lauryn Willliams a young adult seeking GOD but I was recognized as Lauryn Williams the Olympian quite a few times. One person came to me and a just wanted to tell me how encouraging it was to see an professional athlete with such a HUGE platform being open and seeking the LORD. I never thought of myself as having a huge platform or paid attention to the importance my walk has on others.

The final day of the Impact Conference was a day of outreach where we were to go out and tell others about GOD. I was sick to my stomach at the thought of it. I don't ever want to become the people who turned me off from GOD at a young age because they were forcing it on me. If your willing to listen I can tell you what my faith in the Lord has done for me but I don't want to tell people who are doing something different that they are going to hell!!!

Well my experience that day wasn't like that at all. My group of 3 was given the names and address of four homes where we visited and shared box of food with each. My stomach was not so sick when I saw that sharing my faith is like sharing a box of food. When you genuinely care about others you will give and share your life in ways that express your love for God and love for people. Then it's not as bad as it seems.

I am looking forward to the opportunities of helping others experience Ultimate Training Camp and the Impact Conference, so they to can turn the corner in pursuit of a meaningful relationship with God.



(universalsports.com)