Yvette Williams jumping, 1954
Yvette Williams mid-air in a long jump, in an attempt to break her own world record at Carisbrook Park in Dunedin during a visit of Queen Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Photograph taken on the 26 January 1954.
Find out more about Yvette Williams
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Credit:
Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: PAColl-8163-10
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image
Yvette Williams
The sports writer Peter Heidenstrom rated Yvette Williams as his 'New
Zealand Athlete of the Century'. There is no doubt that she was one of
our greatest-ever athletes - and probably the most versatile.
Yvette Williams leaps for gold at Helsinki
New Zealand’s first female Olympic medallist, Yvette Williams (now Corlett) won gold in the long jump with an Olympic-record leap of 6.24 m (20 feet 5¾ inches). Her triumph came 32 years after New Zealand’s first female Olympian, swimmer Violet Walrond, competed in the 100 m and 300 m at the 1920 Antwerp Games.
Yvette Williams sets world long jump record
The jump that won Yvette Williams a gold medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics was only 1 cm short of the world record held by Francine ‘Fanny’ Blankers-Koen of The Netherlands. Like Williams, Blankers-Koen was a versatile athlete, competing successfully in the long jump, high jump and a range of track events.
Williams broke Blankers-Koen’s long jump record two years after the Helsinki Olympics at an athletics meeting in Gisborne. Her world record of 20 feet 7½ inches (6.29 m) stood for 18 months.
