Diane Williams is a retired World class sprinter who ran 100 m and 4x100 m relays. She was born 14 December 1960 in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, U.S.A

1980 Olympics

Williams qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but was unable to compete due to the

1980 Summer Olympics boycott The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and its allies later ...

. In 2007 she did receive one of 461

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

s created especially for the spurned athletes.

World Athletics Championships

Her best performances came in the first two

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

in 1983 and 1987. In Helsinki in 1983 she was a Bronze medallist over 100 m. In 1987 she was fourth over 100 m and won gold as part of the 4x100 relay team, their winning time of 41.58 CBP secs is still one of the fastest in history. In 1988, she was 2nd to Florence Griffith Joyner's world record time of 10.49 in the 100m.

Aftermath

Diane has admitted to using

performance-enhancing drug Performance-enhancing substances, also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. A well-known example of cheating in sports involves doping in sport, where bann ...

s during her career in the era preceding random out of competition testing. However, she managed to compete without the use of drugs through the 1987 season and ran faster than ever. She now tours schools where she relates her abuse of steroids and the struggle to regain her health in the aftermath of her career. An auto biography, ''True to Me'', was published a few years ago which chronicles the aforementioned battle to perform clean at the highest level. Height 1.63 m Weight 54 kg.

Personal bests

References

Sources

The International Track and Field Annual 1988/89 1960 births Living people Track and field athletes from Chicago American female sprinters Doping cases in athletics American sportspeople in doping cases Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Congressional Gold Medal recipients Goodwill Games medalists in athletics USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games 21st-century American women {{US-sprint-athletics-bio-stub