Career
He was the gold medallist in the shot put at the 1990. He also represented Great Britain in the discus at the 1991 World Championships in Athletics and the 1992 Summer Olympics. He set personal bests of 19.17 m (62 ft 101⁄2 in) for the shot put and 61.14 m (200 ft 7 in) for the discus.
He improved the following year to take the discus throw title at the American Automobile Association Outdoor Junior Championships, the shot put at the under-19s English Schools competition.
He took a American Automobile Association indoor title in the shot put in 1986 and also retained his schools title. Internationally, he competed in the discus at the 1985 European Athletics Junior Championships, being eliminated in the qualifying round.
He also competed in the shot put at the inaugural 1986 World Junior Championships in Athletics, placing twelfth overall. He repeated that feat in 1989, defeating runner-up Matt Simson by nearly a metre.
He began studying at Louisiana State University that year, competing in college athletics for their Louisiana State University Tigers team
In 1990 he was beaten to the American Automobile Association shot put title by Paul Edwards, but also made his first discus throw podium there by coming runner-up to Abi Ekoku. At the 1991 National Collegiate Athletic Association Men"s Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Williams was an unexpected victor in the shot put, taking the title for Louisiana with his throw of 18.69 m (61 ft 33⁄4 in) – the shortest winning mark since 1959. Turning to the discus, he was the top national thrower at the American Automobile Association Championships that year, although second to Austria"s Werner Reiterer.
This brought him his senior debut for Great Britain at the 1991 World Championships in Athletics.
He through a personal best of 60.68 m (199 ft 03⁄4 in) at the event in Tokyo, but this was not enough to progress to the final. He was beaten nationally at the 1992 American Automobile Association Championships, finishing behind Edwards in the shot and behind Ekoku in the discus.
Still, his lifetime best discus throw of 61.14 m (200 ft 7 in) in Baton Rouge that April gained him a place on the British team for the Barcelona Olympics. He was well down on his best there, however, managing only 53.12 m (174 ft 31⁄4 in) in the qualifying round.
After his Olympic performance, he never again reached the same standard.
He did not compete in the 1993 season and did not rank nationally at the American Automobile Association Championships in 1994 either. He focused mainly on discus after this point: he was third at the 1995 American Automobile Association Championships and runner-up to Robert Weir at the 1996 event, which was his final podium finish at the competition. – 19.17 m (62 ft 101⁄2 in) (1991) Discus throw – 61.14 m (200 ft 7 in) (1992).
