Randy Lavelle Williams (born August 23, 1953) 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.

Education

In high school, Williams attended Edison High School in Fresno, California. He then attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

.USC OLYMPIANS: 1904–2004
, USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed August 13, 2008.

Career

At the

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

in 1969, Williams finished third behind future rival James McAlister, in 1970, he finished second behind future

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

star,

Lynn Swann Lynn Curtis Swann (born March 7, 1952) is an American former professional football player, broadcaster, politician, and athletic director, best known for his association with the University of Southern California and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He ...

, and in 1971, he won the meet in what would have clearly been a meet record, had it not been wind aided. Williams won the sprints at the 1987 Masters West Region Championship.

Olympics

Williams mainly competed in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

, in which he won a gold medal at the 1972 Olympics and a silver medal in 1976. His 1972 winning jump of 8.24 m (27–4½) set the world junior record that stood for almost 40 years until it was improved by 1 cm by Sergey Morgunov on June 20, 2012. At the time it was the longest standing record on the books. Williams qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but was unable to compete due to the

1980 Summer Olympics boycott The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was the largest boycott in Olympic history and one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summ ...

. He did receive one of 461

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is the oldest and highest civilian award in the United States, alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is bestowed by vote of the United States Congress, signed into law by the president. The Gold Medal exp ...

s created specifically for the athletes.

Hall of Fame

In 2009, Williams was inducted into the

National Track and Field Hall of Fame National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

References

1953 births American male long jumpers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics University of Southern California alumni Sportspeople from Fresno, California Living people Track and field athletes from California Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics American masters athletes 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USC Trojans men's track and field athletes NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners {{US-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub