Yvette Williams

Williams in 1954

Yvette Winifred Corlett CNZM MBE (née Williams, 25 April 1929 – 13 April 2019) was a New Zealand athlete. She won the gold medal in the women's long jump at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. This made her the first woman from her country to win an Olympic gold medal. She was also the first New Zealander to hold the world record in the women's long jump. She was a national champion and a medallist at the Commonwealth Games in long jump, javelin, shot put and discus. On the 100th anniversary of Athletics New Zealand in 1987, Yvette was named "Athlete of the Century".^[1]

Williams was born in Dunedin. She married Canadian-born New Zealand sportsman Buddy Corlett in 1954. He died in 2015.

Williams died on 13 April 2019, at the age of 89.^[2]

References

1. "Yvette Williams". New Zealand History. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
2. "Yvette Williams, New Zealand's first female Olympic gold medallist, dies aged 89". New Zealand Herald. 14 April 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2019.

Other websites

• Yvette Williams Archived 2018-07-04 at the Wayback Machine at Sports-Reference.com