Will Williams (long jumper)

William Williams (born 31 January 1995) is an American long jumper. After a successful collegiate career at Texas A&M winning the 2018 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, he went on to win the 2022 NACAC Championships and qualify for two World Athletics Championships competitions, with a best finish of 8th at the 2023 world championships.

Early career
Williams is from Chicago Heights, Illinois where he attended Bloom High School. At Bloom, Williams was runner-up at the 2013 Illinois High School Association 3A state long jump championships.

In 2014, he joined the Iowa Western Reivers track and field team, finishing second at that year's indoor and outdoor NJCAA championships. He then transferred to the Texas A&M Aggies track and field program, which he represented from 2016 to 2018. He qualified for the 2016 United States Olympic trials, but he did not post a valid mark in the preliminary rounds.

Texas A&M
At Texas A&M, Williams qualified for five NCAA Division I finals in track and field, with his first podium finish coming at the 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships where he finished 2nd. Williams was not expected to score, but his runner-up finish helped Texas A&M score enough points to win the team title.

Williams won his first NCAA national title at the 2018 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships. He took an early lead after the first round of jumping, but he was quickly surpassed by Charles Brown and eventually Grant Holloway, who jumped 8.13 metres to lead in the penultimate round but then decided to skip the final round to focus on his 60 metres hurdles event. Williams saved his best effort for his final jump, posting an 8.19 metres personal best to win the championship. He had only jumped further than 7.90 metres one time before indoors, but at the 2018 championships he surpassed that mark three times.

Professional career
At the 2021 United States Olympic trials, Williams jumped a best of 7.73 metres and did not advance to the finals, missing out on the 2021 U.S. Olympic team. By virtue of placing 4th at the 2022 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Williams was able to represent the United States for the first time at both the 2022 NACAC Championships and the 2022 World Athletics Championships that summer. Though Williams did not advance to the finals of the 2022 World Championships, he redeemed himself by winning the gold medal at the NACAC Championships the following month.

He achieved his first national title at the 2023 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, jumping a new personal best of 8.20 metres. Though he only finished 8th at the 2023 US Outdoor Championships, he nonetheless qualified for the 2023 World Athletics Championships because many of the jumpers ahead of him had not achieved the World Championship standard that Williams had. At his second world championships, Williams advanced from the first round with an 8.13 m mark, but could only manage 7.94 metres in the finals for 8th place.

Personal life
Williams is a member of the Winner's Circle club and he is coached by four-time world champion long jumper Dwight Phillips.

In addition to his professional long jump career, Williams considers himself a professional slam dunker as well. He won the 2023 Relays Night slam dunk contest held during the half-time of a January Drake Bulldogs men's basketball game in honor of the Drake Relays, scoring 114 out of 120 possible points.

In 2020, Williams was named as an assistant coach for the Arkansas State Red Wolves track and field team.