Shaun Williams (wrestler)

Shaun Phillip Williams (born December 5, 1976 in Pretoria) is a retired amateur South African freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's featherweight category.[1] Williams has claimed three medals (two silver and one bronze) at the All-Africa Games, picked up a bronze in the 55-kg division at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, and later represented his nation South Africa, as a lone wrestler, at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Williams also trained for the University of Oregon's freestyle wrestling team, under his coach Pat Whidcomb, while studying and attending college in the United States.[2]

Shaun Williams

Personal information
Full name	Shaun Phillip Williams
Nationality	South Africa
Born	(1976-12-05) 5 December 1976 Pretoria, South Africa
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
Sport	Wrestling
Style	Freestyle
Club	University of Oregon (USA)
Coach	Pat Whidcomb (USA)
Medal record Men's freestyle wrestling Representing  South Africa Commonwealth Games 2002 Manchester 55 kg All-Africa Games 1999 Johannesburg 54 kg 2003 Abuja 55 kg 1995 Harare 48 kg

Williams emerged himself into the international spotlight at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, United Kingdom, where he took home the bronze medal in the men's featherweight division (55 kg).[3] The following year, Williams continued to produce another sporting success by bringing home the African championship title in freestyle wrestling, and by ending up eleventh in the same class at the 2003 World Wrestling Championships in New York City, New York, United States, which earned him a ticket to compete for the South African Olympic team.[4]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Williams qualified as a lone wrestler for the South African squad in the men's featherweight class (55 kg), by receiving a berth and rounding out the top eleven spot from the World Championships.[4][5] He lost his opening bout against Bulgaria's Radoslav Velikov because of the ten-point superiority limit, and could not gain enough points to outclass China's Li Zhengyu in a sudden-death match 4–5, leaving Williams on the bottom of the prelim pool and finishing seventeenth overall in the final standings.[6][7]

After his retirement from the sport in late 2007, Williams worked as the wrestling head coach for Hermiston High School in Hermiston, Oregon.[2][8] In late 2015, Williams moved to Spokane, Washington, and began work for Central Valley High School in Spokane Valley, Washington, where he started a new role as a resource education teacher, in addition to his role serving as the school’s current wrestling head coach.[2][9]