Will Williams (long jumper)

Last updated

Will Williams
Personal information
Full nameWilliam Williams
NationalityFlag of the United States.svg USA
Born31 January 1995 (29 years, 19 days old) [1]
Home town Chicago Heights, Illinois [2]
Education
AgentLamont Dagen [2]
Height183 cm (6 ft 0 in) [1]
Weight79 kg (174 lb) [1]
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event(s) Long jump
100 metres
College team
ClubWinner's Circle [1]
Coached by Dwight Phillips [2]
Now coaching Arkansas State Red Wolves [4]
Achievements and titles
National finals
Personal best(s) LJ :
8.23m (+1.0) (2023)

100m :
10.32 (+0.9) (2022)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing the Flag of the United States.svg United States
NACAC Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2022 Freeport Long jump
Updated on 15 January 2024.

William Williams (born 31 January 1995) is an American long jumper. After a successful collegiate career at Texas A&M winning the 2018 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, he went on to win the 2022 NACAC Championships and qualify for two World Athletics Championships competitions, with a best finish of 8th at the 2023 world championships.

Contents

Early career

Williams is from Chicago Heights, Illinois where he attended Bloom High School. At Bloom, Williams was runner-up at the 2013 Illinois High School Association 3A state long jump championships. [3]

In 2014, he joined the Iowa Western Reivers track and field team, finishing second at that year's indoor and outdoor NJCAA championships. [3] He then transferred to the Texas A&M Aggies track and field program, which he represented from 2016 to 2018. [3] He qualified for the 2016 United States Olympic trials, but he did not post a valid mark in the preliminary rounds. [1]

Texas A&M

At Texas A&M, Williams qualified for five NCAA Division I finals in track and field, with his first podium finish coming at the 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships where he finished 2nd. Williams was not expected to score, but his runner-up finish helped Texas A&M score enough points to win the team title. [5]

Williams won his first NCAA national title at the 2018 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships. He took an early lead after the first round of jumping, but he was quickly surpassed by Charles Brown and eventually Grant Holloway, who jumped 8.13 metres to lead in the penultimate round but then decided to skip the final round to focus on his 60 metres hurdles event. Williams saved his best effort for his final jump, posting an 8.19 metres personal best to win the championship. He had only jumped further than 7.90 metres one time before indoors, but at the 2018 championships he surpassed that mark three times. [6]

Professional career

At the 2021 United States Olympic trials, Williams jumped a best of 7.73 metres and did not advance to the finals, missing out on the 2021 U.S. Olympic team. [7] By virtue of placing 4th at the 2022 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Williams was able to represent the United States for the first time at both the 2022 NACAC Championships and the 2022 World Athletics Championships that summer. Though Williams did not advance to the finals of the 2022 World Championships, he redeemed himself by winning the gold medal at the NACAC Championships the following month. [1] [8]

He achieved his first national title at the 2023 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, jumping a new personal best of 8.20 metres. [9] Though he only finished 8th at the 2023 US Outdoor Championships, he nonetheless qualified for the 2023 World Athletics Championships because many of the jumpers ahead of him had not achieved the World Championship standard that Williams had. [1] At his second world championships, Williams advanced from the first round with an 8.13 m mark, but could only manage 7.94 metres in the finals for 8th place. [10]

Personal life

Williams is a member of the Winner's Circle club and he is coached by four-time world champion long jumper Dwight Phillips. [2] [1]

In addition to his professional long jump career, Williams considers himself a professional slam dunker as well. [11] He won the 2023 Relays Night slam dunk contest held during the half-time of a January Drake Bulldogs men's basketball game in honor of the Drake Relays, scoring 114 out of 120 possible points. [12]

In 2020, Williams was named as an assistant coach for the Arkansas State Red Wolves track and field team. [4]

Statistics

Best performances

EventMarkPl.CompetitionVenueDateRef
Long jump 8.23 m (+1.0 m/s)Gold medal icon.svg Mt. SAC Relays Walnut, California 15 April 2023 [1]
100 metres 10.32 (+0.9 m/s)Gold medal icon.svg(Race C)Alumni Muster College Station, Texas 30 April 2022 [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Mathieu</span> Bahamian sprinter

Michael Mathieu is a retired Bahamian sprinter hailing from Freeport, Grand Bahama who specialized in the 200 metres and 400 metres. He was part of the Bahamian silver medal-winning team in the men's 4×400 metres relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, running second leg and recording a 44.0 split, and the gold medal-winning team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was also a part of second place relay team at the 2007 World Championships. He won the bronze medal in the 4x400 metres relay in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Taylor (athlete)</span> American track and field athlete

Christian Taylor is an American track and field athlete who competes in the triple jump and has a personal record of 18.21 m, which ranks 2nd on the all-time list.

Curtis Mitchell is an American athlete, who specialises in the 100 and 200 meters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omar Craddock</span> American track and field athlete

Omar Craddock is an American track and field athlete who competes in the triple jump. With the University of Florida he won one indoor and two outdoor NCAA titles in the event. He competed alongside Christian Taylor and Will Claye in a succession of elite level triple jumpers to come from the Florida Gators track and field team.

JaCorian Kevon Duffield is an American track and field athlete who competes in the high jump. His personal record for the event is 2.34 m, set as he was the 2015 runner-up at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandi Morris</span> American pole vaulter

Sandi Morris is an American pole vault record holder. She won the silver medal in the pole vault event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She also won silver at the pole vault event at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics and another silver at the 2019 World Championships in Athletics. In 2018 she won gold at the World Indoor Championships. Morris has a personal best vault of 4.95 m indoor, set on March 12, 2016, in Portland, Oregon. She matched this height at the 2018 World Indoor Champships when setting a new championship record. July 23, 2016, Morris cleared 4.93 m at American Track League in Houston at Rice University breaking Jennifer Suhr's American outdoor record in the pole vault. Morris cleared 5.00 m at 2016 IAAF Diamond League Memorial Van Damme in Brussels on September 9, 2016, to set the U.S. women's outdoor pole vault record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raevyn Rogers</span> American middle-distance runner

Raevyn Rogers is an American middle-distance athlete. She won a bronze medal in the 800 meters at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the fourth fastest woman in U.S. history in the event. At the 2019 World Championships, Rogers came from seventh with 100m remaining in the race to place silver over USA teammate Ajeé Wilson in bronze. She earned a world indoor title as a member of national 4x400 m relay squad that took gold at the 2018 World Indoor Championships.

Roland McGhee is an American former long jumper. His personal record mark of 8.51 m ranks him in the all-time top 25 for the event, as of 2016. He was twice a national champion, winning outdoors and indoors in 1998. He represented his country at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics and 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Also a sprinter, he was a bronze medallist in the relay at the 1994 IAAF World Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jarrion Lawson</span> American sprinter and long jumper

Jarrion Lawson is an American sprinter and long jumper. He placed third in the men's long jump at the 2012 World Junior Championships. Competing for the Arkansas Razorbacks, he won five individual NCAA championship titles and one relay title between 2014 and 2016; he won three events at the 2016 NCAA outdoor championships, a triple previously accomplished only by Jesse Owens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Benard</span> American track and field athlete

Chris Benard is an American track and field athlete who competes in the triple jump. He holds a personal record of 17.48 m, set in 2016. Bernard represented Team USA 9-times at 2 Summer Olympics, 4 World Athletics Championships, & 3 NACAC Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quanesha Burks</span> American long jumper

Quanesha Burks is an American track and field athlete who mainly competes as a long jumper. She represented her country at the 2015 Pan American Games and the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. She was the gold medalist at the regional 2015 NACAC Championships in Athletics. Collegiately, she competed for Alabama Crimson Tide and was the 2015 NCAA Division I champion in long jump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Nilsen</span> American athlete

Christopher Nilsen is an American athlete specialising in pole vault and high jump. He won the silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the pole vault event with a jump of 5.97 m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cameron Burrell</span> American sprinter (1994–2021)

Cameron Burrell was an American sprinter. He was the NCAA Division I champion over 100 meters in 2018, and anchored the Houston Cougars to victory in the 4 × 100 meters relay in 2017 and 2018. He ran for the United States 4 × 100 m relay team at the World Junior Championships in 2012 and the World Relays in 2019, with the team earning gold and silver from each competition respectively. Additionally Burrell anchored the U.S. 4 × 100 m relay team to gold at the inaugural Athletics World Cup in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Boling</span> American track and field athlete (born 2000)

Matthew Boling is an American track and field athlete specializing in the sprints and long jump. He won four gold medals at the 2019 Pan American U20 Championships in the 100 m, 200 m, 4 × 100 m relay and 4 × 400 m relay, and helped set world under-20 records in both of the relay races for the United States. He also ran in the semi-final for the American 4 × 400 m relay team at the 2018 World U20 Championships that went on to earn silver in the final. Boling would later go on to win a gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in the mixed 4 x 400 m relay, and would help set a world record for the event in the process.

Quentin Jarrod Iglehart-Summers is an American former track and field sprinter, who specialized in the 400-meter dash. He set a personal record of 45.46 seconds for the event in 2008. He was a gold medalist in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in 2012. He also won a relay gold medal at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics. At collegiate level he was a four-time national champion in the relay with the Baylor Bears.

Jaydon Hibbert is a Jamaican track and field athlete. At the age of 17, he won the gold medal in the triple jump at the 2022 World Under-20 Championships, after silver in the previous 2021 edition.

LeJerald "Sticks" Betters is an American former sprinter specializing in the 400 metres. He was a five-time NCAA Division I champion in relays, and in 2010 he was a member of the gold medal-winning 4 × 400 m relay team at the World Indoor Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allie Wilson</span> American middle-distance runner (born 1996)

Allie Wilson is an American middle-distance runner specializing in the 800 metres. She was the 2024 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winner in the 800 m.

Phillip Austin III, better known as Pjai Austin or PJ Austin, is an American sprinter and long jumper. At the 2023 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, he ran 9.89 for 100 metres in the semifinals and 9.97 in the finals, the former making him the 9th-fastest runner in the world that year.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Will Williams at Tilastopaja (registration required)
  2. 1 2 3 4 Will Williams at www.USATF.org
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Will Williams – 2017–18 Track and Field Roster". Texas A&M Athletics - 12thMan.com. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Will Williams – Assistant Coach – Track & Field Coaches". Arkansas State University. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  5. "Texas A&M Provides Thrilling Conclusion To NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships". RunnerSpace.
  6. Gretschel, Johanna (10 March 2018). "Will Williams Just Won An NCAA Title In The Most Dramatic Way Possible". FloTrack. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  7. Athletics, Caleb Garner-Arkansas State (27 June 2021). "A-State assistant Will Williams competed at U.S. Olympic Trials". kait8.com. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  8. Lindstrom, Sieg (24 August 2022). "NACAC Champs — A Good Day For Hurdling". Track & Field News. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  9. "Hobbs and Hall go No.2 all time at US Indoor Championships in Albuquerque | REPORT | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  10. "Little Claims Silver at World Championships". Visitors. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  11. FIBA – The Basketball Channel, From Long Jumper to Pro Dunker: William Williams | Shots Fired 🔥 , retrieved 27 January 2024
  12. "Will Williams Wins Dunk Contest to Highlight Relays Night". Drake University Athletics. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2024.