Editing Percy Williams (sprinter) (section)

==Olympic competition==
[[File:PercyWilliams.jpg|thumb|left|Williams hoisted aloft by [[Phil Edwards (runner)|Phil Edwards]] (left) and [[Brant Little]] after winning the 100 metres at the [[1928 Summer Olympics|1928 Olympics]].]]
At the 1928 Olympic trials, Williams won the 100 and 200 metres races, equaling the Olympic 100 metres record of 10.6 seconds.<ref name=r1/><ref name=Tyee>{{cite web|title=Vancouver's Forgotten Track Star|url=https://thetyee.ca/Life/2012/08/04/Percy-Williams/|publisher=TheTyee.ca|access-date=6 August 2012|author=Geoff D'Auria|date=4 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807040943/http://thetyee.ca/Life/2012/08/04/Percy-Williams/|archive-date=7 August 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

To earn his travel ticket for the trials, Williams and his volunteer coach, Bob Granger, worked as waiters and dishwashers in a railroad dining car, and Vancouver track fans raised the money to pay Granger's transatlantic ship passage to the 1928 Olympics.<ref name=Tyee/>

In the second round of the 100 metres at [[Amsterdam]], Williams again equaled the Olympic record with a time of 10.6 seconds and did the same in his semi-final, but placed second to [[Bob McAllister (athlete)|Bob McAllister]]. The final opened with two false starts, first by [[Wilfred Legg]] and then one by [[Frank Wykoff]]. Williams took the lead off the start and never relinquished it, winning the gold over [[Jack London (athlete)|Jack London]] with [[Georg Lammers]] third. Williams then won the 200 metres two days later, coming from behind to overtake [[Helmut Körnig]], who had led out of the bend. It was Williams' eighth race in four days and he was the first non-American to complete the sprint double.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Athletics at the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Games:Men's 100 metres|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1928/ATH/mens-100-metres.html|publisher=sports-reference.com|access-date=3 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712124309/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1928/ATH/mens-100-metres.html|archive-date=12 July 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Athletics at the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Games:Men's 200 metres|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1928/ATH/mens-200-metres.html|publisher=sports-reference.com|access-date=3 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629155602/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1928/ATH/mens-200-metres.html|archive-date=29 June 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Williams was also part of the Canadian team which was disqualified in the final of the [[Athletics at the 1928 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay|4 × 100 metre relay contest]].<ref name=r1/>

Williams's victories were front-page news in Canada and he returned a national hero, feted by enormous crowds across the country. An estimated 25,000 people turned out to welcome him at the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] station at the foot of [[Granville Street]] in Vancouver.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Canada 150: Percy Williams, the world's fastest man|url=https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/canada-150/canada-150-percy-williams-the-worlds-fastest-man|publisher=Vancouversun.com|access-date=2 August 2018|author=John Mackie|date=27 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180803014058/https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/canada-150/canada-150-percy-williams-the-worlds-fastest-man|archive-date=3 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Williams was met off the train by Mayor [[L.&nbsp;D. Taylor]] and Premier [[Simon Fraser Tolmie]]. They bundled him and Granger into cars and paraded them through the confetti-filled city. The event was broadcast live by reporters with microphones stationed along the route.<ref name=Tyee/>

Williams showed that his success was not an accident, setting a [[Men's 100 metres world record progression|World Record]] at the [[Canadian Track and Field Championships]] at [[Varsity Stadium]] in [[Toronto]] in 1930. He then won the 100 yard dash at the inaugural British Empire Games (now known as the [[Commonwealth Games]]) in [[Hamilton, Ontario]], but tore the tendons in his upper left leg around the 70 yard mark and never made a full comeback.<ref name="British">{{Cite web|title=The British Empire Games of 1930|url=http://torontoist.com/2015/07/the-british-empire-games-of-1930/|publisher=Torontoist.com|access-date=30 August 2017|author=Jamie Bradburn|date=21 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831000151/http://torontoist.com/2015/07/the-british-empire-games-of-1930/|archive-date=31 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> At the [[1932 Summer Olympics]] in Los Angeles, he was eliminated in the semi-finals of the [[Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 metres|100 metre event]]. With the Canadian team he finished fourth in the [[Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay|4 × 100 metre relay competition]]. Subsequently, Williams stopped running and became an insurance agent.<ref name=Tyee/>