Darold Williamson Hall of Fame Interview

GOLDEN FEAT
Hall of Famer Williamson Part of Olympic Tradition

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

As the 400-meter gold medalist at the 2004 Olympics, former Baylor All-American Jeremy Wariner was the obvious choice to run anchor leg on the USA 4x400-meter relay.

But Wariner had other ideas.

"Jeremy was like, â ‚¬ËœI've been handing off to Darold all year, I kind of want to keep it that way," said Baylor and USA teammate Darold Williamson. "We were Baylor brothers. We had run third and fourth all year long. So being able to make up half of that gold medal relay was a tremendous accomplishment for myself, for Jeremy and for Baylor University."

As the last two legs on a USA relay that included Derrick Brew and Otis Harris Jr., Wariner and Williamson took home gold medals in the 4x400 relay with a time of 2:55.91 that beat runner-up Australia by nearly five seconds. Now, 12 years later, Williamson is following Wariner again, this time into the Baylor Hall of Fame.

"It's hard to believe it's been 12 years," said Williamson, who will be inducted Oct. 14 at the Hall of Fame Banquet. "To be able to accomplish that as a collegiate athlete, it was a priceless experience. To be able to compete in front of that many people, that kind of crowd, knowing that I would have millions watching at home, fans from back home in my hometown of San Antonio, Texas, it was a lot of fun. It's the pinnacle of our sport, so to be able to accomplish that, it's a tremendous honor."

A Class 5A state champion from San Antonio Holmes, Williamson said he was attracted to Baylor by its reputation in developing quarter-milers and relished the idea of running on the same relay with the likes of Bayano Kamani, Zsolt Szeglet and Brandon Couts.

"I saw those guys and said, â ‚¬ËœMan, I really want to be a part of that,''' he said. "But I didn't know a lot about track and field, to be honest with you. I didn't know until I got to Baylor that all those guys were already finished. I didn't even know enough about the sport to know that they wouldn't be there to compete on their team."

It didn't matter, though. With Williamson taking over anchor duties as a freshman, Baylor's 4x400 relay won a combined seven Big 12 titles (indoors and outdoors), national indoor titles in 2002 and '04 and the 2004 NCAA outdoor championship.

"That just tells you about the kind of program we had and the coaching and the quality of Baylor Athletics," Williamson said. "Michael Smith was the only senior on the team, and he was a 400-meter hurdler. We won the NCAA indoor championship and got second outdoors. I got nipped at the line. It was a rebuilding time for us, and I was just happy that we did so well."

2004 proved to be a special year. Even before the Olympics, Williamson helped the Bears sweep the 4x400 relay titles at the NCAA indoor and outdoor meets, added All-America honors in the 400 meters indoors (4th) and outdoors (6th) and won the third of his four straight Big 12 outdoor titles in the 400. Williamson said it was "just great to train under the tutelage" of legendary coach Clyde Hart, who's had a gold-medal tradition going back to Michael Johnson at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and continuing through Sanya Richards-Ross at last year's Games in London.

"He's a genius when it comes to track and field, and definitely the 400 meters," Williamson said of Hart. "He cares a lot about his athletes and our success. He made me promise my grandmother that I would one day get my undergraduate degree, which is why I returned in 2010 to complete that."

When Wariner turned pro after his gold-medal performance at the Olympics, Williamson's immediate response was, "Well, I want to go pro, too."

Michael Johnson told him he could get him a six-figure contract "if you go back and run your senior year at Baylor and win the individual NCAA 400-meter championship."

"It wasn't a difficult decision to make," Williamson said. "As I said, it was the best time of my life. I was getting to travel around the United States, different universities, competing with a great team. Really, I was getting to be a spoiled kid, still. Once you turn pro, it becomes a job. And I really enjoyed my time at Baylor."

Returning for his senior season, Williamson captured his fourth consecutive Big 12 outdoor 400-meter title and did exactly what Johnson had told him to do. After running a 44.27 time in the semifinals à ¢Ã¢ €š ¬Ã¢ ‚¬Å" which still ranks as the fastest ever run by a Baylor athlete at a collegiate meet à ¢Ã¢ €š ¬Ã¢ ‚¬Å" he won the NCAA outdoor title with a 44.51 clocking in the final.

"I won every race my senior year in the 400 meters outdoors. Honestly, it was really cool to be the top dog in college track and field when it comes to 400 meters," he said. "To come out and run as fast as I did at the NCAA Championships à ¢Ã¢ €š ¬Ã¢ ‚¬Å" to this day, that is my personal-best time. How did I do that? I have no idea. It was the perfect race. I was so relaxed, not pressured, just qualifying, and it was just a crazy, crazy time."

While his pro career did not turn out as he hoped, Williamson still added gold medals in the 4x400 relay at the 2005 and '07 World Championships, finished seventh in the 400 at the 2005 World Championships and also made the relay pool for the 2008 Olympics.

"When I turned professional, I really wasn't living the right way, to be honest with you," he said. "I don't even mind sharing that, because that's my testimony. We've got kids like Wil London doing great things at Baylor and Trayvon Bromell that just turned pro. I wasn't making all the best decisions for myself and for my career. I haven't had a chance to talk to them yet, but I want to let those guys know that you can be great, you can run fast, but you've got to be doing everything else. You've got to be living right if you want to continue your success."

Williamson's success story didn't end at the 2008 Olympics. He came back to Baylor in 2010, finished his degree in education in May 2011 and has been working in computer software sales since then. He and his wife, LaJuana, a conference track champion at Texas State in the 200 meters and triple jump, have three daughters, Dior, Dani and Dyln, and are expecting another child next month.

"I told myself I was happy with walking away from the sport," he said. "I was able to go back and get my undergraduate degree. And I could use the experience that I had in life and obviously my college degree and get into the real work world, corporate America. I knew software sales was an industry that's going to continue to grow. I got in there, and I've been doing really well. Life is really good."

Earlier this year, Williamson also was inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame with former NBA standout Shaquille O'Neale.

Now, he's part of a Baylor Hall of Fame class that includes Daniel Sepulveda and Bentley Jones (football), Aundre Branch and Sophia Young-Malcolm (basketball), Jon Perlman (baseball), Cristin Vitek (softball) and Jahnavi Parekh (women's tennis).

The Hall of Fame Banquet will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14, at the Waco Convention Center.

Tickets are $50 per person, with table sponsorships (with seating for eight) are also available for $600 (green) and $800 (gold). Contact the "B" Association at 254-710-3045 or by email at tammy_hardin@baylor.edu.