Jeff Williams (athlete)
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| Full name | Jeffrey Williams | ||||||||||||||||||
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December 31, 1965 (age 51) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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Jeffrey "Jeff" Williams (born December 31, 1965) is an American former track and field athlete who specialized in the 200-meter dash. He was the bronze medalist at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics and reached the 200 m final at the 1996 Summer Olympics. 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.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Williams attended Washington Preparatory High School and graduated from Los Angeles City College in 1985. He joined Prairie View A&M University and began playing football 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 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.
After graduating in 1987 with a degree in social sciences he was unusual for a track athlete in that he supported himself without help from a sponsorship deal. He began making regular appearances at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships: 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 where he took 100 m bronze behind compatriot Andre Cason, 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, where he finished fifth.
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