Derrick Williams (born March 25, 1982) is an American former

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who competed in the 400-meter hurdles. He was a finalist at the

2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member feder ...

and holds a personal record of 48.26 seconds.

Career

Williams attended GlenOak High School in

Stark County, Ohio Stark County is a county located in the northeastern part of U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 374,853. Its county seat is Canton. The county was created in 1808 and organized the next year. It is named for John S ...

and took part in track while there. After graduating in 2001 he went on to attend

junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...

Barton Community College Barton Community College, previously Barton County Community College, is a public community college in Great Bend, Kansas. Its service area includes Barton, Ellsworth, Pawnee, Rush and Russell Counties, Stafford County north of US Highway 5 ...

. Working with coach Lance Brauman (who also trained fellow African-American athlete

Tyson Gay Tyson Gay (born August 9, 1982) is a retired American track and field sprint (running), sprinter who competed in the 100 metres, 100 and 200 metres, 200 meters. His 100 m personal best of 9.69 seconds is the United States records in track ...

),Derrick WILLIAMS - U.S.A. - 2007 World Championships 400m Hurdles finalist.
Sporting Heroes. Retrieved on 2016-04-10. he became the national junior college champion in the 110-meter hurdles in 2001 before going on to take the 400 m hurdles title two years later.Derrick Williams

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and 1 ...

. Retrieved on 2016-04-10. After leaving college he failed to improve over the 2004 and 2005 seasons, but after a move to

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, Arkansas, Washington County, and the most populous city in Northwest Arkansas. The city ...

in 2006 he improved his personal record to 48.68 seconds. This ranked him twelfth in the world for the event that year. He also won at the Adidas Track Classic that year. In spite of this, he did not finish his race at the 2006 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships so did not progress nationally. The peak of Williams' career came in 2007. That year he placed third at the 2007 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships behind James Carter and

Kerron Clement Kerron Stephon Clement (born October 31, 1985) is a Trinidadian-born American track and field athlete who competes in the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter sprint. He held the List of world indoor records in athletics, indoor world record in the 4 ...

in a lifetime best of 48.26 seconds. On the circuit he won at the Kingston meet, was third at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York. Having made the American team for the

, he won his first heat, then successfully progressed through the semi-finals. All three Americans – Williams, Clement and Carter – were in the final. Williams was the slowest of the three, fading in the latter stages of the race to finish seventh. Williams ranked within the global top ten that season. Williams failed to build on his global debut and his career went into decline in the 2008 season. He was eliminated in the 2008 United States Olympic Trials at the quarter-finals stage and recorded a season's best of 49.75 seconds for fourth at the adidas Track Classic. He ranked outside the top 50 that year and never ran as fast again. He placed in the world top fifty for the last time in 2009, with a time of 49.77 seconds.

International competitions

Personal records

* 110-meter hurdles – 13.96 (2003) * 400-meter hurdles – 48.26 (2007) *

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

– 21.24 (2009) *

400-meter dash The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is on ...

– 48.01 (2008) ;Indoors *

55-meter hurdles 55 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling, usually only run in indoor competitions. This is more commonly run at the high school level. The objective is to approach the first hurdle with 7 steps, each hurdle after that needs to have 3 step inter ...

– 7.29 (2005) *

60-meter hurdles 60 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on bo ...

– 7.85 (2005) *

60-meter dash 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the mi ...

– 7.21 (2007) *

– 47.55 (2007) *All information from All-Athletics.Derrick Williams
All-Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-04-10.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Derrick Living people 1982 births Track and field athletes from Ohio American male hurdlers African-American track and field athletes World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Sportspeople from Stark County, Ohio Barton Cougars men's track and field athletes 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen