Ulis Williams

Ulis Williams (born October 24, 1941 in Hollandale , Mississippi ) is a former American track and field athlete and Olympic champion who was active in the early 1960s and specialized in the 400 meters . He started for Arizona State University .

He was able to reach the final of the US national championships four times :

• 1961 second in 45.3 s (440 yds.)
• 1962 champion in 45.8 s
• 1963 champion in 45.8 s
• 1964 fifth in 46.5 s (400 m)

In 1963, he won the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship over 440 yards in 45.8 seconds .

In 1964 he took part in the Olympic Games in Tokyo both as an individual runner over 400 meters and as a member of the US 4-by-400-meter relay and achieved the following placements:

• 400 m: 5th place in 46.01 s (For a medal he would have had to be almost four tenths faster, since third place, the Pole Andrzej Badeński , ran 45.64 s.)
• 4 × 400 m: gold in 3: 00.7 min (team: Ollan Cassell , Mike Larrabee , Williams as third runner and Henry Carr as final runner ) ahead of Great Britain (silver in 3: 01.6 min) and Trinidad (bronze in 3rd place) : 01.7 min)

This achievement meant a new world record. The previous record, set by Jack Yerman , Earl Young , Glenn Davis and Otis Davis four years earlier at the Olympic Games in Rome , was 3: 02.2 minutes. It lasted until 1966, when another US team broke the 3-minute mark for the first time (2: 59.6 min).

After completing his active career, Ulis Williams joined Compton Community College , where he held various positions in succession and was finally appointed superintendent in March 1996.