Christopher Williams (sprinter)

Medal record
Competitor for  Jamaica
Men’s athletics
Olympic Games
Bronze 2000 Sydney 4x400 m relay
World Championships
Silver 2001 Edmonton 200 m
Bronze 2001 Edmonton 4x400 m relay

Christopher Williams (born 15 March 1972 in Mandeville, Manchester) is a Jamaican sprinter.[1]

Williams is best known for winning the silver medal in the 200m at the 2001 World Championships. In 2001 he was named Jamaica Sportsman of the Year. Williams has competed in the Olympic Games three times, in 2000, 2004 and 2008, reaching the semi-finals of the 200m on all occasions. He was on the bronze medal-winning 4 x 400 metre relay team at the 2000 Olympics. He finished seventh in the 200m final at the 2007 World Championships.

Williams represented Jamaica at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He competed at the 200 metres and placed third in his first round heat after Brian Dzingai and Christian Malcolm in a time of 20.53 seconds. He improved his time in the second round to 20.28 seconds and placed third again, this time after Dzingai and Walter Dix. He ran his semi final race in 20.45 seconds and placed sixth, which was not enough to make it to the Olympic final.[1]

He received a two-year ban for failing a drugs test (Amphetamine and levmetamphetamine) in August 2009 in Salamanca, Spain.[2] The sprinter described the ban as "harsh", reflecting that, although he had ingested prohibited substances, he had done so through a cold medicine he was taking, which he had declared on the drug test forms in Spain. He also complained that the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association had not informed him of the failed drug test and that he first discovered the news in April 2010 after a family member read the story on the internet. "I was retired after I came back from Europe", he remarked, "Why would I be using performance enhancing drugs, when I am done with the sport?".[3]

Achievements

Year Tournament Venue Result Event
1999 Central American and Caribbean Championships Bridgetown, Barbados 1st 200 metres
Pan American Games Winnipeg, Canada 3rd 4x100 m relay
2000 Summer Olympics Sydney, Australia 3rd 4x400 m relay
2001 World Indoor Championships Lisbon, Portugal 4th 200 metres
World Championships Edmonton, Canada 2nd 200 metres
2nd[4] 4x400 m relay
2002 Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador, El Salvador 2nd 200 metres
2003 Pan American Games Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 2nd 200 metres
Central American and Caribbean Championships St. George's, Grenada 3rd 200 metres
2005 World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco 2nd 200 metres
2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia 3rd 200 metres

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Athlete biography: Christopher Williams, beijing2008.cn, ret: Sep 01, 2008
  2. ^ Raynor, Kayon (2010-05-25). IAAF bans Chris Williams for two years. Jamaica Observer. Retrieved on 2010-08-08.
  3. ^ "Two year ban is harsh", says Chris Williams. Track Alerts (2010-05-11). Retrieved on 2010-08-08.
  4. ^ The Jamaica 4x400 team won originally the bronze medal, but the USA 4x400 team, which originally finished first in 4x400 m relay, was disqualified in 2008 due to Antonio Pettigrew confession of using human growth hormone and EPO between 1997 and 2003.
Awards
Preceded by
Courtney Walsh		 Jamaica Sportsman of the Year
2001		 Succeeded by
Michael Blackwood