WILLIE WILLIAMS

Willie Williams was a graduate of Gary Roosevelt High School and the University of Illinois. He was a sprinter who in 1956, set the 100-meter world record with a new time of 10.1 seconds, one-tenth of a second faster than the record held jointly by eight men, one of them being Jesse Owens. At Gary Roosevelt, he played football and was first in the state in the 100-meter dash as a senior. He attended the University of Illinois, from which he earned a B.S. in Physical Education and his M.S. from Indiana University in Health Education. Willie was a three-time All-American and two-time NCAA Champion in the outdoor 100 meters. 

He won a gold medal as a member of the 4 X 100 relay squad at the 1955 Pan American Games in Mexico. He was also a two-time 100-meter finalist in the 1952 and 1956 Olympic trials. He was in the U.S. army in special services when he broke the world record at the International Military Track Meet in West Berlin in August 1956.

He left the army later that year, and became the Athletic Director at Ogden Park in Chicago, before teaching and coaching sports in his hometown. Williams taught and coached track for 11 years at West Side High School, where his squads gathered five state titles. In 1982, he returned to the University of Illinois to coach track. Although he trained for the Saudi Arabian Olympic track team in the Summer of 1988 for the Seoul Olympics, he declined the opportunity to move to Saudi Arabia and stayed with the University of Illinois, becoming the Associate Head Coach in 1997 before retiring in 2000.