Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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Birth name | Ann Williams | ||||||||||||||
Born | (1965-08-20) 20 August 1965 (age 59) St. Helens, England, United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||
Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||
Weight | 60 kg (130 lb) | ||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
Event(s) | 800 m, 1500 m | ||||||||||||||
Club | Sale Harriers | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Ann Margaret Griffiths (née Williams; born 20 August 1965) is a retired English athlete who competed in middle-distance events. In the 800 meters, she won a silver medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games and finished seventh in the final at the 1991 World Championships, before going on to represent Great Britain in the 1500 metres at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
Career
A member of Sale Harriers Manchester athletics club, Williams won a silver medal for England in the 800 metres, at the 1990 Commonwealth Gamesin Auckland, New Zealand, in a race that was a one-two for the club, with the winner being Diane Edwards.
Williams ran under two minutes for 800m for the first time, when running 1:59.88 for fourth at the 1991 Europa Cup, to become the sixth British woman to break the two-minute barrier (after Christina Boxer, Shireen Bailey, Kirsty McDermott, Lorraine Baker and Diane Edwards). Two months later she reached the final at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, finishing seventh.
Williams achieved her career-best 1500m time of 4:07.59 when winning at the Golden Gala Rome Grand Prix on 9 June 1992. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics she fell in her qualifying heat and was unfortunate to be disqualified.
Now competing under her married name Ann Griffiths, she achieved her career-best at 800m, running 1:59.81 for fifth in the final at the 1994 European Championships.
International competitions
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
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Representing England | |||||
1990 | Commonwealth Games | Auckland, New Zealand | 2nd | 800 m | 2:00.40 |
Representing Great Britain | |||||
1990 | European Championships | Split, Yugoslavia | 15th (sf) | 800 m | 2:03.36 |
1991 | European Cup | Frankfurt, Germany | 4th | 800 m | 1:59.88 |
World Championships | Tokyo, Japan | 7th | 800 m | 2:01.01 | |
1992 | Olympic Games | Barcelona, Spain | heats (fell) | 1500 m | DQ |
1994 | European Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 5th | 800 m | 1:59.81 |
(sf) Indicates overall position in semifinals |
National titles
- UK Championships 800 metres (1989)
- AAA Championships 800 metres (1990)
- AAA Championships 1500 metres (1991)
Personal bests
Outdoor
- 800 metres – 1:59.81 (Helsinki 1994)
- 1500 metres – 4:07.59 (Rome 1992)
Indoor
- 1000 metres – 2:40.07 (Birmingham 1996)
- 1500 metres – 4:16.25 (Birmingham 1996)
References
- Sports-Reference profile
- Ann Williams at World Athletics
- "1990 Athletes". Team England.
- "England team in 1990". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
- "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
UK Athletics Championships winners in women's 800 metres | |
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1977-1997 |
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- Living people
- 1965 births
- Sportspeople from St Helens, Merseyside
- English female middle-distance runners
- British female middle-distance runners
- Olympic athletes for Great Britain
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics
- Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games
- World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain
- Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games
- 20th-century English sportswomen