St. Aug's George Williams Nominated to Head Olympic Team

INDIANAPOLIS – USA Track & Field has nominated George Williams to serve as head coach for the men’s 2004 Olympic Teams for track and field.

The nominations for the Olympic staff are being submitted to the U.S. Olympic Committee. Once approved by the USOC, Williams and the Team USA staff will guide the World’s #1 Track & Field Team at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. In Olympic competition, Team USA has won 297 gold medals and 688 medals overall.

“The talent and experience that George, Sue Humphrey (women's head coach nominee) and the entire staff bring to the Olympic stage will be a huge advantage for our athletes,” said Craig Masback, USATF CEO. “We are pleased to have such an outstanding group of coaches and managers for the 2004 Olympic Team.”

Since becoming head track and field coach at St. Augustine’s College 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 in Seville, 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.”