Percy Williams
Encyclopedia
Percy Alfred Williams, OC
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

 (May 19, 1908 – November 29, 1982) was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 athlete, winner of the 100 m and 200 m races at the 1928 Summer Olympics
1928 Summer Olympics
The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam had bid for the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games, but had to give way to war-victim Antwerp, Belgium, and Pierre de...

.

Biography

Williams was born in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

 and he died in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

.

Williams surprised many when he won the Canadian trials and was sent out to the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 at age 20. To his surprise, he found out that he could easily advance to the final of the 100 m event. A good start in the final gave Williams the early advantage to win the race. He repeated his performance in the 200 m to come home with two gold medals - cheered by thousands of enthusiastic Canadians. He was also a member of the Canadian team which was disqualified in the final of the 4×100 metre relay contest.

He showed that his success was not an accident, winning the 100 yard dash at the inaugural British Empire Games (now known as the Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....

) in Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...

, Canada, and setting a World Record in 1930. He suffered a pulled thigh muscle while setting the world record at the British Empire Games. He never made a full comeback.. At the 1932 Summer Olympics
1932 Summer Olympics
The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, was a major world wide multi-athletic event which was celebrated in 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. No other cities made a bid to host these Olympics. Held during the worldwide Great Depression, many nations...

 in Los Angeles, he was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 100 metre event. With the Canadian team he finished fourth in the 4×100 metre relay competition
Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 x 100 metres relay
The men's 4 x 100 metres relay relay event at the 1932 Summer Olympics took place on August 6 and August 7 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.-Heats:Two heats were held; the fastest three times advanced to the final round.Heat one...

. Subsequently, Williams stopped running and became an insurance agent.

In 1979 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

.

Williams lived with his mother until she died in 1977. After that, he lived alone and suffered in constant arthritic
Arthritis
Arthritis is a form of joint disorder that involves inflammation of one or more joints....

pain. Percy Williams was a great collector of guns and shot himself in the head, ironically with a gun he had been awarded in 1928 as a prize for his Olympic feat. No note was left; it was a surprise to everyone. The media at the time decided not to publicize his death for a few years.

In 1950 a Canadian press poll proclaimed Percy Williams Canada's greatest track athlete of the first half of the century. They updated that in 1972 to declare him our all time greatest Olympic athlete. He had donated in 2 gold medals from the 1928 Olympics to the BC Sports Hall of Fame, saying that he wanted them to be seen and remembered. Within weeks they were stolen. It was said at the time that Percy Williams, the fastest man of his generation, simply shrugged off the loss and no replacements were ever issued
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