AusCycling mourns Naomi ‘Ren’ Williams

AusCycling joins the Australian cycling community in mourning the death of Naomi ‘Ren’ Williams.  

Rennski, as she was known by friends and teammates, was a multi-disciplinary rider who rode on the track, mountain bike, road and cyclo-cross. But it was in road and cyclo-cross where Williams excelled, representing Australia in both disciplines.  

As a junior cyclist, she burst onto the scene brimming with energy, and first represented Australia at the junior Road World Championships in 1998 where she finished 17^th.  

She raced at the Australian Road National Championships a number of times and in 2001, achieved her best results of 5^th. 

In 2002, the Tasmanian was awarded an AIS scholarship to ride in the women’s national road team across Europe.  

Renowned for her bike handling, later in her cycling career Williams moved into cyclo-cross and in 2016 claimed the cyclo-cross national series title, which included three wins.  

That same year, she competed in two races for the Qiansen trophy in China, UCI C2 world cup races, and finished just off the podium in 4th and 5^th. 

She spent the 2016-17 season racing CX in Europe, which she capped off with a 32^nd place the 2017 Cyclo-cross World Championships in the Netherlands.  

Williams died unexpectedly earlier this month aged 44 and was laid to rest in her home state Tasmania where she was remembered as a bubbly, generous and kind person. 

AusCycling extends its condolences to the family and friends of Naomi ‘Ren’ Williams.  

The family asked friends and supporters to donate to Beyond Blue in lieu of flowers.