Yvette Williams
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Yvette Winifred Williams |
| Born |
25 April 1929 Dunedin, New Zealand |
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| Spouse(s) | Charles Armistice Corlett (m. 1954; d. 2015) |
| Relatives | Roy Williams (brother) |
| Sport | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Sport | Track and field |
| Coached by | Jim Bellwood |
| Retired | 1954 |
| Achievements and titles | |
| National finals | Long jump champion (1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954) Shot put champion (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954) Discus champion (1951, 1952, 1953, 1954) Javelin champion (1950) 80 m hurdles champion (1954) |
| Personal best(s) | Long jump – 6.28 m Shot put – 13.95 m Discus – 47.95 m Pentathlon – 4219 points |
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Medal record
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Yvette Winifred Williams CNZM MBE (later Yvette Corlett, born 25 April 1929) is a former New Zealand athlete. A versatile sports person, she became the first woman from her country to win an Olympic gold medal and later held the women's long jump world record.
Williams was born in Dunedin in 1929, and she grew up in that city and attended Otago Girls' High School. In Auckland on 11 December 1954 she married fellow sportsperson Buddy Corlett; he played for the national basketball team. 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. Her husband died on 9 May 2015. Her younger brother, Roy Williams, won the decathlon at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.
As a schoolgirl, Williams showed little of her future athletics ability. However, she 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 would go on to win 21 national titles in all, across five disciplines, namely: shot put (1947–54), javeilin (1950), discus (1951–54), long jump (1948–54) and the 80 m hurdles (1954). With 21 New Zealand titles, she is equal with Beatrice Faumuina and Melissa Moon as the second-most successful New Zealand female athlete at that level, behind Val Young (35 titles).
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Wikipedia