yvette williams

Personal details

Full Name:

Yvette Winifred Corlett

Lifetime:

25 Apr 1929–13 Apr 2019

Biography

Yvette Williams

The sports writer Peter Heidenstrom rated Yvette Williams as his 'New Zealand Athlete of the Century'. There is no doubt that she was one of our greatest-ever athletes - and probably the most versatile.

Events In History

20 February 1954

Yvette Williams sets world long jump record

Eighteen months after winning the long jump at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, Williams set a new world record of 20 feet 7½ inches (6.29 m) at an athletics meeting in Gisborne. Read more...
23 July 1952

Yvette Williams leaps to gold at Helsinki

Yvette Williams (later Corlett) won the long jump to become New Zealand’s first female Olympic medallist. Read more...