June 28, 2004
CanSport

Great Canadian Olympians

It was a quintessential moment in track and field history. Zola Budd, the controversial barefoot runner from South Africa with British citizenship, going up against American favourite Mary Decker in the 3,000 metres at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Instead of the much-anticipated showdown between Budd and Decker, however, the race turned into a bitter tale of heartbreak and disappointment for both runners. Decker fell just past the midway point after colliding with her arch rival, while Budd, jeered by a wildly partisan crowd of over 80,000, wilted in the homestretch.

Three other runners, including an unheralded Canadian with a big kick finish, came from behind to scoop the medals. No one was more surprised than 24-year-old Lynn Williams to find herself on the podium to receive an Olympic bronze medal.

"On the last 500 metres I didn’t realize I had a chance, but on the last lap I was picking up speed," Williams said later in an interview.

"Zola Budd was falling back, I remember thinking ’I’m catching Zola Budd. If I can get by her I can get a medal."

In that fleeting moment on a hot summer day in Southern California almost 20 years ago, life changed irrevocably for Williams. From a promising young runner trying to find her way in the highly competitive world of track and field, she was well on her way to a stellar career as one of the best middle distance runners ever produced in Canada.

Looking back on that memorable day brings back fond memories for Williams, now, 43, and busier than ever as the mother of four children aged 4-12, volunteer track and field coach, and owner of successful sports stores in White Rock, B.C., where she lives, and in nearby Langley.

Although best known for her bronze medal at the 84 Games, Williams singles out her third-place finish at the 1989 world cross-country championships in Norway as her best-ever performance.

"At that time the best in the world from 1500 metres up to marathon ran in that race and it was really seen as the ultimate test in the running world."

A close second on her own career highlight reel is the 1500 metre final at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 where she finished 5th in an event she strongly suspects was influenced by drug use by some of the other competitors.

"I was only a couple of tenths of a second away from a silver medal and the finish was just a barn burner down the home stretch. I beat a lot of people I’d never beaten before. If you were to take out the druggies I should have won a medal."

Lynn is quick to point out, however, that she never wasted time or energy worrying about what other athletes might be doing to give their performance a chemical boost.

"I just enjoyed running and competing. You had to face people that were going to take that route so I took the attitude that I just had to live with it. For me it was all about getting the best out of myself. That’s what competing and pushing yourself is all about."

Among the many other highlights in her career, Williams won gold in the 3,000 metres and bronze in the 1500 at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. She is also a six-time Canadian middle distance champion and still owns the Canadian record in the 1500 she set back in 1985.

This past summer she watched on TV as her other long-standing 5,000 metre record, also set in 1985, was broken by Canadian runners Emilie Mondor and Courtney Babcock at the world track and field championships in Paris.

"I follow the sport so I knew these gals were making some great strides," says Williams, recalling a telephone conversation she had with Mondor about a year ago to wish her well and urge her on to break the records.

Lynn figures her 1500-metre mark will probably fall next year and thinks Babcock will likely be the first to do it.

It’s still too early to tell, but Williams may one day have a competitive runner or two under her watchful eye at home. All four children -- Robbie, 12, Jack, 10, Alison, 8, and Jessica, 4, like to run, in addition to playing other sports. And all have the added bonus of having their Mom as a coach at school -- for the last seven years Lynn has been coaching at both the local elementary school and high school.

"I don’t care if they do anything in a high level way. I just follow their lead and anything they want to do I’m behind them 100 per cent. If that means they take it beyond the average person, then that’s fantastic. But as long as they’re enjoying the journey, then that’s the most important thing."

Despite a full schedule, Lynn also manages to find time to get involved with activities surrounding Vancouver’s successful bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

"It’s been awesome," she says with enthusiasm. "People don’t understand what it does to have a gigantic group effort like that and see how it trickles down to every community. It’s going to be fantastic. It’s very exciting and I’m glad to be on board with all of that."

No stranger to adversity in her days as a competitive athlete, Lynn has also had to draw on her bountiful inner reserves to get through the breakdown of her marriage to Paul Williams, who like Lynn, retired from competitive running in the early 1990’s holding a slew of Canadian distance records.

"Life throws its curveballs, but I’m the type who wants to move forward," she says. "It’s been a difficult few years but at the same time, it’s been a growing few years. If I can just head out on the trails for a half and hour jogging by myself with my dog, I wind up feeling that life is really good."

reprinted with permission