John Chester Williams (born September 12, 1953) is a retired

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

from 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 ...

. After placing second at the 1969 World Championships he won the 1971 and 1972 world titles and the gold medal at the 1972 Olympics. It was the first Olympic archery medal for the United States in 52 years.John Williams
sports-reference.com Williams briefly attended

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, and graduated in business and management from the

California State University, San Bernardino California State University, San Bernardino (Cal State San Bernardino or CSUSB) is a public research university in San Bernardino, California. Founded in 1965, it is one of the 23 general campuses of the California State University system. The m ...

. He later worked as a product manager for the archery division of

Yamaha Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate with a very wide range of products and services. It is one of the constituents of Nikkei 225 and is the world's largest musical instrument manufacturing company. The former motorcycle div ...

. In 2003, the National Archery Association issued him its J. Maurice Thompson award, named after the body's founder, for outstanding and meritorious service to the sport. Northwestern High School has a plaque in the lobby honoring John Williams.

References

1953 births Living people People from Erie County, Pennsylvania American male archers Archers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in archery Sportspeople from Pennsylvania Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics {{US-archery-bio-stub