Born May 1, 1915, Oakland, Calif. Died June 24, 1993.

Archie Williams had one great year but he did more in that one year than many athletes achieve in a lifetime.

Until 1936, Williams had never broken 49 seconds for the 440 yards. During 1936, however, Williams kept lowering his times and reached his peak at the NCAA championships, setting a world 400-meter record of 46.1. His time was set in the preliminaries and he also prevailed in the final for a 47.0 victory. He followed that up with a first in the Olympic Trials, then went to Berlin and won the Olympic gold medal in the 400. A serious leg injury ended his running career a year later but he became a commercial pilot. During World War II, Williams was a pilot in the Air Force and retired from the military 22 years later as a lieutenant colonel. A flight instructor while in the Air Force, Williams remained in education following his military retirement and taught mathematics and computers in California high schools.