William Allen Spencer (June 23, 1936 – December 3, 2020) competed in the 1964 and 1968 Winter Olympics on the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Biathlon Team. Bill Spencer died on Thursday, December 3, 2020. He was 84 years old.

Early life

Spencer was born in

Russellville, Alabama Russellville is a city in Franklin County in the U.S. state of Alabama. At the 2020 census, the population of the city was 10,855, up from 9,830 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Franklin County. History After the War of 1812, t ...

. His family later moved to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

where he attended South High School. He was a 1959 Collegiate All-American skier at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

where he was also a member of

Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity with 233 chapters at American universities. As of 2021, the fraternity had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 110,000 alumni. Sigma Pi headquarters are in Nashville, Tennessee. The fraternity ...

fraternity. He graduated from Utah in 1961 and served in the U.S. Army from 1963 to 1984, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. From 1963 to 1968, he was assigned to Ft. Richardson in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

with his wife Judy, a son and two daughters. He completed two tours of duty in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

as an infantry officer, earning three Bronze Star Medals (one with Valor), three Air Medals (one with Valor), and three Army Commendation Medals.

As an athlete

National Championships

Spencer won both the U.S. Biathlon Championships and the Canadian Biathlon Championships in 1966 and 1967. He was U.S. National 30 km Cross-Country Champion in 1965. He was a member of the U.S. CISM (Council International Sports Military) team 1964 to 1968 and 1973.

Olympics

Spencer competed in one event at the 1964 games. He finished 30th in the men's individual 20 km race. This was good for second best on the American team. In the 1968 games Spencer competed as an individual and as part of the Men's 4 x 7.5 km relay. He finished 37th in the individual 20 km event (the second best of the U.S. squad) and the team finished eighth in the relay (out of fourteen teams).

As a coach and official

After retiring from competition Spencer spent time as a coach and official. He was the U.S. biathlon team leader for the 1972 and 1984 Winter Olympics as well as numerous World Cups and World Championships. He was the U.S. Olympic shooting coach for the 1976, 1980, and 1992 Winter Olympics. Spencer was the Coordinator of the

National Guard Bureau The National Guard Bureau is the federal instrument responsible for the administration of the National Guard established by the United States Congress as a joint bureau of the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. It was cre ...

Biathlon Program from 1977 to 1984. From 1984 to 1994 he was the U.S. Biathlon Association Coach and Development Coordinator. From 1973 - 2002 he was the U.S. representative to the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Technical Committee, serving as Technical Delegate for the Calgary Olympics in 1988. At the 2002 Olympics he was Deputy Chief of Competition for the Biathlon. At the

2002 Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soó ...

, he carried the Olympic torch off of the plane, along with

Nikki Stone Nicole Stone (born February 4, 1971) is a former American Olympic skier. She was born in Princeton, New Jersey, currently residing in Park City, Utah. Nikki Stone, who competed in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, is best known ...

, that had brought it to the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. He is the grandfather of U.S. Olympic rower Molly Reckford.

Awards

*1966 - Sports Illustrated Award of Merit *2000 - Inducted into the U.S. Biathlon Hall of Fame *2002 - IBU Medal of Honor *2003 – Inducted into the

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Sports Hall of Fame *2004 - Inducted into the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame *2005 – Inducted into the University of Utah's Crimson Club Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Bill 1936 births 2020 deaths American male biathletes Biathletes at the 1964 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 1968 Winter Olympics United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States Army officers