Averil Muriel Williams (19 March 1935 – 16 December 2019) was a British

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

who competed at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

Biography

Williams finished third behind Doris Orphall in the javelin throw event at the 1956 WAAA Championships. The following year she became the national javelin champion after winning the British

WAAA Championships The WAAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Women's Amateur Athletic Association (WAAA) in England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event for women during its lifetime. Since 1880, the Amateur Athl ...

title at the 1957 WAAA Championships and successfully retained the title at the 1958 WAAA Championships. One month later, Williams represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and won a bronze medal in the javelin at the

1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (Welsh: ''Gemau Ymerodraeth Prydain a'r Gymanwlad'' 1958) were held in Cardiff, Wales, from 18 to 26 July 1958. It was the sixth edition of what would come to be known as the Commonwealth Games, the ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, Wales. After finishing second behind Sue Platt at the 1960 WAAA Championships she represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, competing in the women's javelin throw competition. Williams continued to compete for several years and finished second behind

Ameli Koloska Ameli Koloska, née Isermeyer (born 28 September 1944) is a retired West German javelin thrower who competed at two Olympic Games. Biography Koloska who competed for the VfL Wolfsburg, USC Mainz and TSV Nieder-Olm sports clubs during her a ...

in the javelin event at the 1965 WAAA Championships and third behind Sue Platt at the 1969 WAAA Championships.

References

1935 births 2019 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics British female javelin throwers Welsh female javelin throwers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Sportspeople from Essex Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games New Zealand Athletics Championships winners Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics {{Wales-athletics-bio-stub