Shaun Williams
Personal information
Full nameShaun Phillip Williams
Nationality South Africa
Born (1976-12-05) 5 December 1976
Pretoria, South Africa
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
SportWrestling
StyleFreestyle
ClubUniversity of Oregon (USA)
CoachPat Whidcomb (USA)
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing  South Africa
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place2002 Manchester55 kg
All-Africa Games
Silver medal – second place1999 Johannesburg54 kg
Silver medal – second place2003 Abuja55 kg
Bronze medal – third place1995 Harare48 kg

Shaun Phillip Williams (born December 5, 1976, in Pretoria) is a retired amateur South African freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's featherweight category.[1] Williams has claimed three medals (two silver and one bronze) at the All-Africa Games, picked up a bronze in the 55-kg division at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, and later represented his nation South Africa, as a lone wrestler, at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Williams also trained for the University of Oregon's freestyle wrestling team, under his coach Pat Whidcomb, while studying and attending college in the United States.[2]

Williams emerged himself into the international spotlight at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, United Kingdom, where he took home the bronze medal in the men's featherweight division (55 kg).[3] The following year, Williams continued to produce another sporting success by bringing home the African championship title in freestyle wrestling, and by ending up eleventh in the same class at the 2003 World Wrestling Championships in New York City, New York, United States, which earned him a ticket to compete for the South African Olympic team.[4]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Williams qualified as a lone wrestler for the South African squad in the men's featherweight class (55 kg), by receiving a berth and rounding out the top eleven spot from the World Championships.[4][5] He lost his opening bout against Bulgaria's Radoslav Velikov because of the ten-point superiority limit, and could not gain enough points to outclass China's Li Zhengyu in a sudden-death match 4–5, leaving Williams on the bottom of the prelim pool and finishing seventeenth overall in the final standings.[6][7]

After his retirement from the sport in late 2007, Williams worked as the wrestling head coach for Hermiston High School in Hermiston, Oregon.[2][8] In late 2015, Williams moved to Spokane, Washington, and began work for Central Valley High School in Spokane Valley, Washington, where he started a new role as a resource education teacher, in addition to his role serving as the school’s current wrestling head coach.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Shaun Williams". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  2. 1 2 Gates, Billy (16 May 2012). "Former Olympian named Hermiston wrestling coach". Hermiston Herald. Archived from the original on 21 June 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  3. ↑ "Ugoalah takes gold". BBC Sport. 3 August 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  4. 1 2 Blanchett, John (27 August 2004). "Going the distance for Athens dream". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  5. ↑ Abbott, Gary (12 July 2004). "Olympic Games preview at 55 kg/121 lbs. in men's freestyle". USA Wrestling. The Mat. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "Wrestling: Men's Freestyle 55kg". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  7. ↑ "Forgettable Friday for Team South Africa". Independent Online (South Africa). 28 August 2004. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  8. ↑ Fowler, Annie (15 May 2012). "Hermiston hires Olympian to replace Berger as wrestling coach". Tri-City Herald. Archived from the original on 21 June 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "Shaun Williams, citing family reasons and new job, resigns as Hermiston wrestling coach". The Oregonian. 28 August 2015. Archived from the original on 22 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.


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