James Williams (16 October 1966 – 12 May 2024) was a competitive fencer. He competed for Great Britain at the 1992 Olympic Games,

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

and

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. Williams died on 12 May 2024, at the age of 57.

Biography

Williams was born on 16 October 1966 in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

. He started fencing when he joined the Army and soon afterwards he won the Army Fencing Championship and Master of Arms competitions. In 1996 and 2000, he won the

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

title at the

British Fencing Championships The British Fencing Championships are held annually to determine the British champion. The Championships are currently held at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield or the Lee Valley Athletics Centre. These championships (known as the Nationa ...

. Williams was coached by Péter Fröhlich for a number of years, and together with Ian Williams they ran a summer training camp at Grantham in the UK. He was highly regarded and involved at the top levels of fencing in Britain; he coached British Juniors at internationals in 2024, was the Team Manager for Team GB Fencing at the 2005 World Student Games in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, Turkey and was responsible for Olympic Pathways and TASS program delivery, and was the Strength and Conditioning lead for GB Fencing. Williams coached at Sheffield Sword Club, where he was the principal coach until June 2010. Williams coached at City FC, MX Fencing and at Brentwood School.

International competitions

References

External links

Sport England - Sporting Champions profile

British Fencing website

Sheffield Sword Club website
* 1966 births 2024 deaths British male fencers Fencers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for Great Britain Sportspeople from Huddersfield {{UK-fencing-bio-stub