Dame Yvette Winifred Corlett (née Williams; 25 April 1929 – 13 April 2019) was a New Zealand

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 event ...

athlete who was the first woman from her country to win an

Olympic gold medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

and to hold the world record in the women's

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

. Williams was named "Athlete of the Century" on the 100th anniversary of

Athletics New Zealand Athletics New Zealand (ANZ) is the national governing body for athletics in New Zealand. This includes responsibility for Track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking. History The organisation was founded in 1887 as the ...

, in 1987.

Early life

Williams was born on 25 April 1929 in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. She grew up there and attended

Otago Girls' High School , motto_translation = The Right Education Makes The Heart As Strong As Oak , type = State , grades = 9 - 13 , grades_label = Years , gender = Girls-only , established = ; years ago , address = 41 Tennyson Street ...

. While at high school, Williams played several sports, making the top netball team and playing for Otago and the South Island. Williams also represented Otago, the South Island and New Zealand (1950, 1953–55) in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

Athletics career

Williams joined the Otago Athletic Club in early 1947, mainly for social reasons. Two months later, she came to national attention when she won the shot put at the New Zealand athletics championships. She went on to win 21 national titles across 5 disciplines: shot put (1947–54), javelin (1950), discus (1951–54), long jump (1948–54) and the 80 m hurdles (1954). With 21 New Zealand titles, she is the joint second-most successful New Zealand female athlete at that level, with Beatrice Faumuina and Melissa Moon, behind

Val Young Valaria Marie Young (born June 13, 1958) is an American recording artist from Detroit, Michigan, who achieved success during the 1980s. She is now based in Los Angeles. Career She was discovered by George Clinton, who hired her as a backgroun ...

(35 titles).

Jim Bellwood James Charles Bellwood (10 July 1912 – 19 July 1994) was a New Zealand labourer, physical education instructor and sports coach. He was born in Hastings, New Zealand, as James Charles Robertson, but was fostered by Arthur and Ada Bellwood ...

, who had moved to Dunedin in late 1947 or early 1948, became her trainer. When Bellwood moved to Auckland in 1952 to teach at

Avondale College Avondale College is a state coeducational secondary school located in the central Auckland, New Zealand, suburb of Avondale. With a roll of students from Years 9–13 (ages 12–18), it is the third largest secondary school in New Zealand. ...

, Williams followed, boarding with an aunt and uncle in Devonport. Controversially left out of the New Zealand team for the 1948 Olympic Games in London, Williams won the long jump title at the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. The main venue was ...

in Auckland. Her winning leap of broke the national, Empire Games, and British Empire records. At the same competition, she also won the silver medal in the women's javelin, with a throw of . In 1951 Williams jumped at a meet in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, the third-best distance ever by a woman at that time, increased her New Zealand shot put record, and also became the New Zealand discus record holder. At the 1952 New Zealand championships, Williams became the first woman in history to jump over more than once, winning the long jump title with a distance of , but the distance was not recognised as a world record as it was wind-assisted. Also in 1952 she recorded a score of 4219 points in the pentathlon, setting a New Zealand record that stood for 10 years. Williams won the gold medal in the long jump at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki; her winning distance of 6.24 m was a new Olympic record and 1 cm short of

Fanny Blankers-Koen Francina "Fanny" Elsje Blankers-Koen (26 April 1918 – 25 January 2004) was a Dutch track and field athlete, best known for winning four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She competed there as a 30-year-old mother of two, earn ...

's world record set in 1943. Also at Helsinki, Williams finished in sixth place in the shot put and 10th in the discus throw. In February 1954, Williams broke the women's

world record at

Gisborne, New Zealand Gisborne ( mi, Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa "Great standing place of Kiwa") is a city in northeastern New Zealand and the largest settlement in the Gisborne District (or Gisborne Region). It has a population of The district council has its headquarte ...

, with a leap of 6.28 metres. Later that year she travelled to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

for the

1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

, winning gold medals in the long jump, discus, and shot put, all with Empire Games record performances, and finishing sixth in the 80 m hurdles. She announced her retirement from athletic competition in November 1954. At the time she ranked number one in world track and field history in the long jump, fifth in the pentathlon, 12th in the discus throw and 19th in the shot put.

Personal life

Williams married Buddy Corlett, a member of the national basketball team, in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

on 11 December 1954. The couple had four children, including national basketball representative Neville Corlett; Auckland provincial rugby union player Peter Corlett, and Karen Corlett, who represented New Zealand in rhythmic gymnastics at the 1977 world championships. Williams' younger brother, Roy Williams, won the decathlon at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica. Buddy Corlett died on 9 May 2015. Williams died in Auckland on 13 April 2019 at the age of 89, 12 days before her 90th birthday.

Honours and awards

In the

1953 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1953 for the United Kingdom were announced on 30 December 1952, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1953. This was the first New Year Honours since the accession of Queen Elizabeth II. The ''Honours list'' ...

, Williams was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services in women's athletics. She was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

for services to athletics in the

2011 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2011 were announced on 31 December 2010 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,New Zealand"New Year Honours 2011"(14 January 2011) 2 ''New Zealand Gazette'' 55. The Cook IslandsThe Cook Islands: Grenada,Grenada: ...

. Williams was twice named the New Zealand Sportsman of the Year, for 1950 and 1952. She was inducted into the

New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is an organisation commemorating New Zealand's greatest sporting triumphs. It was inaugurated as part of the New Zealand sesquicentenary celebrations in 1990. Some 160 members have been inducted into the Hall o ...

in 1990. In 2000, she was voted Otago Sportsperson of the Century. Sports writer Peter Heidenstrom, author of the book ''Athletes of the Century'', rates her as New Zealand's top athlete of the 20th century. The "Yvette Williams Retirement Village" in the Dunedin suburb of Roslyn is named in her honour. In 2013, the

New Zealand Olympic Committee The New Zealand Olympic Committee (before 1994, The ''New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association'') is both the National Olympic Committee and the Commonwealth Games Association in New Zealand responsible for selecting athletes to re ...

, in association with the Glenn Family Foundation, established the Yvette Williams Scholarship, to assist young athletes displaying both exceptional talent and need. In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, Williams was posthumously promoted to

Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...

, for services to athletics; the Queen's approval of the honour took effect on 12 April, the day before Williams's death. She had been advised of the award before her death.

References

External links