Yvette Williams

Yvette Williams in 1954 in Dunedin

Yvette Williams , CNZM , MBE ( Yvette Winifred Williams , married Corlett ; born April 25, 1929 in Dunedin - † April 13, 2019 ) was a New Zealand athlete who became an Olympic long jump champion in 1952 .

At the British Empire Games in Auckland in 1950 , she won the gold medal in the long jump with a width of 5.89 m. In 1952 she won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Helsinki in the same discipline with a width of 6.24 m, was sixth in the shot put and tenth in the discus throw .

In 1953 she was one of the co-founders of the Pakuranga Athletic and Harrier Club . At the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver in 1954 , she defended her title in long jump and won gold in discus and shot put. In Gisborne in 1954 she broke the world record in the long jump with a width of 6.28 m, which she held for 18 months.

In addition, she won a total of 21 New Zealand championship titles in five disciplines over the course of her career.

Williams played netball for Otago and the South Island and basketball for Otago and New Zealand. Her brother Roy Williams was a successful all-rounder. She married Buddy Corlett , who played basketball and softball in 1954 . She then changed her name to Yvette Corlett. She has four children with her husband. In 1954 she ended her athletics career. The New Zealand Athletics Federation named her athlete of the century on the occasion of its centenary in 1987. In 1990 she was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame .

Web links

• Yvette Williams in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} 1952 Olympic long jump champion Williams dies ( English ) IAAF. April 14, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2019.