Ann Williams (athlete)

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Ann Griffiths
née Williams

| image =

| imagesize =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|08|20|df=y}}

| birth_place = St. Helens, England

| height = {{convert|1.78|m|ftin|abbr=on}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20200418041833/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/wi/ann-williams-1.html Sports-Reference profile]

| weight = {{convert|60|kg|lb|abbr=on}}

| sport = Athletics

| event = 800 m, 1500 m

| club = Sale Harriers

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry | {{ENG}} }}

}}

Ann Margaret Griffiths (née Williams; born 20 August 1965) is an English retired athlete who competed in middle-distance events.{{World Athletics}} 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.

Biography

A member of Sale Harriers Manchester athletics club, Williams became the British 800 metres champion after winning the British AAA Championships title at the 1990 AAA Championships.{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=28 March 2025}}{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (women) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=28 March 2025 }}

Williams won a silver medal for England in the 800 metres, at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand, in a race that was a one-two for the club, with the winner being Diane Edwards.{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/auckland-1990/athletes|title=1990 Athletes|website=Team England}}{{cite web|url=https://thecgf.com/results/games/3042/19/all|title=England team in 1990|website=Commonwealth Games Federation|access-date=14 October 2019|archive-date=4 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404120931/https://thecgf.com/results/games/3042/19/all|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/40870|title=Athletes and results|website=Commonwealth Games Federation}}

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

{{AchievementTable\|Event=yes}}
colspan="6"\|Representing {{ENG}}
1990 \|Commonwealth Games \|Auckland, New Zealand \|bgcolor=silver\|2nd \|800 m \|2:00.40
colspan=6\|Representing {{GBR2}}
1990 \|European Championships \|Split, Yugoslavia \|15th (sf) \|800 m \|2:03.36
rowspan=2\|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
colspan=6\| (sf) Indicates overall position in semifinals

colspan="6"|Representing {{ENG}}

1990

|Commonwealth Games

|Auckland, New Zealand

|bgcolor=silver|2nd

|800 m

|2:00.40

colspan=6|Representing {{GBR2}}

1990

|European Championships

|Split, Yugoslavia

|15th (sf)