It's
Official: George Williams Named Olympic Men's Track Coach
March 15, 2003
INDIANAPOLIS – Longtime St. Augustine’s College
coach George Williams has been named the head coach of Team
USA’s men’s track & field squad for the 2004
Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
Since becoming head track and field coach at St. Augustine’s
in Raleigh, N.C., in 1976, the 59-year-old Williams has built
a dynasty. He has won 24 NCAA Division II titles during his
tenure and he has received 90 Coach of the Year honors. His
scholarship athletes at St. Augustine’s have achieved
a 95 percent graduation rate.
Williams was men’s head coach at the 1999 World Outdoor
Championships, the 1993 World Indoor Championships and the 1992
IAAF World Cup. He was an assistant coach for the 1996 Olympic
Games, where U.S. athletes won gold medals in all the event
groups he was responsible for – 400 meters, hurdles, long
jump and the 4x400m relay. World-class athletes currently being
trained by Williams include 2002 U.S. women’s 400m runner-up
Michelle Collins, 2000 and 2001 U.S. women’s 400m champion
and Olympic 4x400m gold medalist LaTasha Colander-Richardson,
and men’s 4x400m relay world record holder and relay gold
medalist Jerome Young,
“I’m still dizzy,” said Williams, a 1965
St. Augustine’s graduate and the school’s athletic
director since 1996. “I think this one of the greatest
things that can happen to anyone in this business. I’m
so grateful to the athletes and the people who helped nominate
me. I’m going to be sure to make sure I’m the coach
they know I am and to make sure they get what they have been
training for, an Olympic medal.”
