Jeffrey "Jeff" Williams (born December 31, 1965) is an American former

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who specialized in the

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

. He was the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

ist at the

1995 World Championships in Athletics The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden on 5–13 August 1995. This edition featured 1804 athletes from 191 nat ...

and reached the 200 m final at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. He set an American record in the 200 m indoors in 1996. He was a late bloomer and attended his first world championship competition at the age of 29. Williams was unusual for an elite male runner at the time in that he had a female coach: 1968 Olympic gold medallist

Barbara Ferrell Barbara Ann Ferrell, Mrs. Edmonson (born July 28, 1947, Hattiesburg, Mississippi) is an American former track and field athlete who competed mainly in the 100-metre dash. She was the U.S. national champion in that event in 1967 and 1969 and i ...

Career

College

Born in Los Angeles, California, Williams attended

Washington Preparatory High School George Washington Preparatory High School is a public four-year high school in the Westmont section of unincorporated Los Angeles County, California. Founded in 1926, the school has a Los Angeles address but is not located in the city limits of Lo ...

and graduated from

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus ...

in 1985. He joined

Prairie View A&M University Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a public historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two land-grant universities and the second oldest public institution of higher learnin ...

and began playing

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

for the Prairie View A&M Panthers. The team coach noticed his speed and asked if Williams would join the track team. He recorded bests of 10.3 seconds in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

and a wind-assisted 20.85 seconds in the 200 m during his time at Prairie View and was sixth in the heats of the 200 m of the

NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship The NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship refers to one of three annual collegiate outdoor track and field competitions for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for athletes from institutions that make up ...

.Jeff Williams Biography

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

(1997).Retrieved on May 22, 2010.

Professional career

After graduating in 1987 with a degree in

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...

he was unusual for a track athlete in that he supported himself without help from a

sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...

deal. He began making regular appearances at the

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Olym ...

: in 1989 he reached the 100 m semi-finals and the 200 m finals and improved the following year to finish seventh in the 100 m and sixth in the 200 m. Williams gained international experience at the

1991 Pan American Games The 1991 Pan American Games were held in Havana, Cuba from August 2 to August 18, 1991. There were 4,519 athletes from 39 countries of the Pan American Sports Organization, PASO community, with events in 33 different sports. The main stadium was ...

where he took 100 m bronze behind compatriot

Andre Cason Andre Cason (born January 20, 1969) is an American former track and field sprinter. He was a member of the American 4 × 100 meters relay team that won the gold medal at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo with a world record time of 37.50&n ...

, although he was disqualified with the US 4×100-meter relay team. He also ran on the European circuit that year and was selected for the 200 m at the

1991 IAAF Grand Prix Final The 1991 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the seventh edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 20 September at the Estadi ...

, where he finished fifth. Following advice from his father, Williams decided to take track seriously from 1992 onwards and he began working with 1968 Olympic silver medallist

– it was highly unusual for a woman to coach an elite male runner, but Williams was unperturbed, saying: "I've heard people say a woman can't coach a man, but they must be lying, because look what she has done for me".Hersh, Phillip (April 21, 1996)
Less than a month into the outdoor track season
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

''. Retrieved on May 23, 2010. He made his first attempt to qualify at the

United States Olympic Trials The United States Olympic Trials are competitions held in certain sports to select the United States' participants in those sports at the Olympic Games. These events include: * United States Olympic Trials (curling) * United States Olympic Trials (d ...

in 1992, but he was sixth in the 100 m semi-finals and finished last in the 200 m. Despite this, he was selected for the

IAAF World Cup in Athletics The IAAF Continental Cup was an international track and field competition organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The event was proposed by IAAF former President Primo Nebiolo and was first held in 1977 as t ...

and won the bronze in the 200 m and helped the US relay team to a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

. His performance at the 1993 US Championships was poor, but he countered this with success in Europe, winning the 200 m at the British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the officia ...

, and doubling up at the 1993 IAAF Grand Prix Final with a fourth in the 100 and fifth in the 200 m. His 1994 season was a quiet one, although he was sixth in the 200 m at the US Championships and he ran a personal best of 20.19 seconds in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

(the fifth fastest time of the year).

World and Olympic finals

The 1995 season was a breakthrough for Williams. He managed to reach the 100 m US final, but it was in the 200 m that he finally reached the national podium, taking the bronze behind Michael Johnson and Kevin Little. Reflecting on his performance at his seventh consecutive national championships, he said "I think persistence plays a little part in it. Luck is remnant of desire. Just hanging in there". After making appearances at European meets, he prepared for the 200 m at the

. After winning his heat and quarter-final races, he stepped up his performance to run 20.32 seconds for second place in the semi-finals behind

Frankie Fredericks Frank "Frankie" Fredericks (born 2 October 1967) is a former track and field athlete from Namibia. Running in the 100 metres and 200 metres, he won four silver medals at the Olympic Games (two in 1992 and two in 1996), making him Namibia's only ...

. In the final he ran a personal record time of 20.18 seconds and was rewarded with the bronze medal, having finished behind Fredericks and Johnson. Williams had won his first world medal at a major championships at the age of 29.Rosenthal, Mike
Sprinter Has The Wheels : Tenacity Pays Off For Late Bloomer
''Daily News''. Retrieved on May 23, 2010. He closed the season with a fifth place at the IAAF Grand Prix Final. Williams hit his athletic peak in 1996, beginning with an American indoor record of 20.40 seconds over 200 m in the early stages of the season, which was the third fastest indoor time that year. He finished as runner-up in the event behind Kevin Little at the

USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The USA Indoor Track and Field Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. In years which feature a World Indoor Championships in ...

. While competing at the Fresno Relays in California, Williams' 100 m race was spoiled when his shoe came off. Keen to check his competitive level, Williams opted to run an impromptu 200 m at the meet instead. He clocked a personal record time of 19.87 seconds into a headwind, a time that only Michael Johnson and Frankie Fredericks had beaten since 1992. By the time of the 1996 US Olympic Trials, he had also run a 100-meter dash best of 10.14 seconds. He scored another personal record in the first round, running 10.02 seconds, and progressed to the final with similar marks. After a

false start In sports, a false start is a disallowed start, usually due to a movement by a participant before (or in some cases after) being signaled or otherwise permitted by the rules to start. Depending on the sport and the event, a false start can result ...

in the 100 m final, he finished fourth and just off the qualifying position for the Olympics. This was his best ever 100 m placing, but he was disappointed with his performance: "I had a mental breakdown and got called for a false start. I blew it". He fared better in the 200 m and came second with a time of 20.03 seconds, although he was some distance off the winner, Michael Johnson, who ran a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

time of 19.66 seconds. Running at his first Olympics at the age of 30, he easily qualified through the early stages and was third in his semi-final. When it came to the final Williams, ran a time of 20.17 seconds, which would have been enough to medal at the previous Olympics. However, the 1996 Olympic 200 meter race was one of the fastest ever as Michael Johnson knocked a third of a second off the world record, Frankie Fredericks ran the third fastest time ever, and

Ato Boldon Ato Jabari Boldon (born 30 December 1973) is a Trinidadian former track and field athlete, politician, and four-time Olympic medal winner. He holds the Trinidad and Tobago national record in the 50, 60 and 200 metres events with times of 5.64, ...

finished in 19.80 seconds. Williams had to settle for fifth (behind

Obadele Thompson Obadele "Oba" Thompson BSS (born 30 March 1976) is a Barbados-born former sprinter, lawyer, author, and speaker. He won Barbados's first and only Olympic medal as an independent country by placing third in the 100 metres at the 2000 Sydney Olymp ...

) in his final appearance on the global stage. Although retired from the elite scene, Williams still competes in

masters athletics Masters athletics is a class of the sport of athletics for athletes of over 35 years of age. The events include track and field, road running and cross country running. Competitors are bracketed into five-year age groups (which promotes fair comp ...

competitions, running in the M40 class.Olympian Williams faces challenge in Mt. SAC deuce
. Masters Track. Retrieved on May 23, 2010.

Personal bests

* All information taken from IAAF/USATF profiles.

Competition record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Jeff 1965 births Living people Track and field athletes from Los Angeles American male sprinters African-American male track and field athletes Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople