Williams, Yvette

Yvette Williams was born in Dunedin in 1929, where she spent her childhood and school years. On December 11, 1954, she married the player of the New Zealand national basketball team Buddy Corletta ^[2] . The couple had four children, Neville Corlett was a basketball player, Peter Corlett played rugby in Auckland, and daughter Karen Corlett represented New Zealand at the 1977 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships ^[3] . Yvette's younger brother, Roy Williams , won the decathlon at the games of the British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations in 1966 in kingston . The husband died on May 9, 2015 ^[4] .

While studying at school, Williams showed little ability in athletics. However, at the beginning of 1947 she joined the Otago Athletic Club, and two months later she won the New Zealand Athletics Championship. During her sports career, she became the champion of the country 21 times in five athletics disciplines: shot put (1947-1954), javelin throw (1950), discus throw (1951-1954), long jump (1948-1954) and 80 meter run with barriers (1954). Having won 21 national titles, she was compared in this indicator with Beatrice Faumuina and Melissa Moon , losing only athlete Valerie Young (37 titles) ^[5] .

Failing to attend the 1948 Olympic Games in London , two years later, Williams won the gold medal in long jump at the British Empire Games in 1950 in Auckland . The 5.91 meter victory jump was New Zealand's new record ^[6] . At the same competitions, she won a silver medal in javelin throwing.

In 1952, at the New Zealand Championships in Athletics, Williams for the first time in the history of women's long jump jumped 6.10 meters, eventually showing a result of 6.29 meters, but he was not recognized as a world record due to a strong tailwind ^{[7 ]} . In addition, in the same year, competing in the pentathlon, she scored 4219 points, setting a New Zealand record that lasted 10 years ^[8] .

Wilms won a gold medal in long jump at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki ; her jump of 6.24 meters became an Olympic record and lost 1.0 cm to the 1943 Fanny Blankers-Kun world record. She also showed the sixth result in shot put and became the tenth in discus throw.

In February 1954, Yvette Williams broke the world record in long jump at the competition in Gisborne , bending 6.28 meters. In the same year, she took part in the games of the British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations in 1954 in Vancouver , winning gold medals in long jump, discus and shot put, all with highscores, and also finished sixth in the 80 meter hurdles. Yvette Williams completed her sports career in 1956 ^[7] .

In addition to athletics, Williams played basketball for Otago and South Island , and basketball for Otago, South Island and New Zealand (1950, 1953–1955) ^[9] .

For merit in athletics in 1953 she became a member of the Order of the British Empire , and in 2011 a companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit ^[10] . Williams was twice called the athlete of the year in New Zealand (1950 and 1952) ^[11] . In 1990, she was inducted into the New Zealand Hall of Fame and recognized as a century athlete in Otago ^[12] .