Desai Williams
Desai Williams (born June 12, 1959[1] in Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis) is a former sprinter from Canada, who won an Olympic bronze medal in 4 x 100 metres relay in Los Angeles 1984.
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Men’s athletics | ||
Representing Canada | ||
Olympic Games | ||
1984 Los Angeles | 4×100 m relay | |
Commonwealth Games | ||
1986 Edinburgh | 4×100 m relay | |
1982 Brisbane | 4×100 m relay | |
Universiade | ||
1983 Edmonton | 100 metres | |
1983 Edmonton | 4x100 m relay | |
Pacific Conference Games | ||
1981 Christchurch | 4x100 m relay | |
1981 Christchurch | 100 metres | |
1981 Christchurch | 200 metres | |
Representing Americas | ||
World Cup | ||
1985 Canberra | 4x100 m relay |
Competing at the two first World Championships, where he reached the semi-final (1983 and 1987), he set his personal best 200 metres time with 20.29 s in 1983 and his 100 metres personal best time of 10.11 s from a 6th-place finish at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.
Williams trained with the Scarborough Optimists Track Club, which was affiliated with the Ben Johnson scandal. Club coach Charlie Francis, working with Dr. Jamie Astaphan, had supplied performance-enhancing drugs to Johnson, Williams, Tony Sharpe, Angella Taylor, Mark McKoy and others.
Williams formerly worked as the speed coach for the Toronto Argonauts and was one of the most respected sprint coaches in eastern Canada, training Olympic athletes Tremaine Harris, Phylicia George and Justyn Warner, among others.
Williams was fired as a coach by Athletics Canada in 2015. A probe found that Williams had violated the organization's sexual harassment policy while a coach in 2010. In 2018, he was handed a life time ban by Athletics Canada.[2][3][4]
International competitions
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1983 | World Championships | Helsinki | 6th (sf) | 200 m | 20.71 | wind +3.4 |
See also
References
- "Desai Williams - Olympic". Olympic.org.
- "Athletics Canada hands lifetime ban to former sprinter Desai Williams". CBC. October 3, 2018.
- "Canada losing ground on abuse, harassment reporting in sports: study". CBC. November 7, 2018.
- Ewing, Lori (November 7, 2018). "Canada falling behind in sports-related abuse and harassment reporting: study". Global News.
Further reading
- Ormsby, Mary (2008-08-15). "Olympic stain is all but erased for Desai Williams". Toronto Star.