Williams on her way to winning the 1952 Olympic long jump gold medal. PHOTOS: ODT FILES
In the runup to the 1952 Olympics, it would be fair to say that everyone in Otago expected great things of Dunedin’s Yvette Williams.
The Otago Girls’ High School old girl had won the long jump at the 1950 Empire Games in Vancouver, and earlier in 1952 — albeit wind-assisted — had become just the second woman to leap more than 20 feet (6.13m) twice when winning the national championships.
The Olympics that year were held in the far from Otago Daily Times deadline-friendly location of Helsinki, Finland, but that was not going to stop her local newspaper from providing prominent coverage of her exploits. Prominent, but not front page prominent — it would still be some months before the ODT became the first New Zealand metropolitan morning newspaper to publish news on the front page.
"At Olympia women could compete and win prizes as owners of chariot teams but all except the priestesses of Demeter were forbidden to enter — matrons on pain of death ... The prohibition is no longer necessary. The radiant Atlanta herself would need to shake her Olympian heels to keep ahead of the young women who will compete at Helsinki."
Things started well, as Williams made the finals of one of her backup events, discus. The watching NZPA special correspondent noted the cheering, crowded stadium would give her valuable Olympic experience and following her 10th placing, Williams concurred.
"Although the scene was rather noisy at times I was not disturbed and was able to concentrate all right ... I had a chance to get accustomed to that atmosphere and also learned about the control of such competitions."
Her gold medal.
News that Williams broke her own Olympic record by a further 3 inches came while Dunedin was abed.
"This newspaper," the ODT editorialised the following day, "which was so prompt to convey the news to its readers yesterday, has had, perforce, to wait for this other day to tender its congratulations to Miss Williams."
Higher up, it regretted that few of her countrymen and women had been able to see Williams’ gold medal leap.
"How staggering it must have been to be in the stadium at Helsinki and see this young woman hurl herself through the air for a distance only one-quarter of an inch less than any woman had ever jumped before. There were only a handful of New Zealanders there to see her performance and to give her a victory haka. They are envied."
Sid Scales’ cartoon of Yvette Williams, published in the ODT on July 26, 1952.
"She has given up much of the enjoyment of youth to reach her present position; hours of practice while others of her age were at the films; early to bed while others danced at parties.
"All these sacrifices would be forgotten as she stood on the centre dais to receive her gold medal to the strains of the New Zealand national anthem."
It would take another day for photographs to make it to Dunedin. For a rare feat came rare coverage; both were run large on the editorial page as the city revelled in having raised an Olympic champion.
