The Otago Daily Times counts down the 150 greatest moments in Otago sport.
No 2: Yvette Williams wins Olympic long jump (1952)
"It's a life-size job," she joked. "I was aware I was depicted like this but I didn't think it was so large."
The size was justified because Williams was the first New Zealand woman to win an Olympic Games gold medal when she won the long jump in Helsinki in 1952.
Her influence on New Zealand sport was huge.
Williams was the first woman to be named the New Zealand sportsman of the year, an honour she achieved in 1950 and 1952.
She was named the New Zealand sportsperson of the 1950s, the New Zealand athlete of the century by Peter Heidenstrom in his book Athletes of the Century, and the top Otago sportsperson of the 20th century. There is no-one to challenge her as the greatest Otago track and field athlete of all time.
Williams can still remember most of the details of her epic performance in Helsinki. The big crowd contained a lot of New Zealanders and she received encouragement from the bank.
"I used to get nervous on the morning of a big meet but once I was out in the middle, the nerves settled and I was able to perform," she said.
"I was lucky. I had a temperament that could perform better in front of crowds than when I was training."
It is now part of New Zealand Olympic folklore how Williams had two no-jumps and then had an agonising 40-minute wait before qualifying for three more jumps.
Her coach, Jim Bellwood, had worked out an exact 30.48m run-up that suited her needs and instructed her how to react if she had no-jumps.
"I moved my mark back 15cm to ensure I didn't step over the board," Williams recalled.
There was a scare for the hundreds of Kiwi supporters in the crowd when the official initially raised his red flag for a no-jump. But he quickly changed it for the white one.
Williams then jumped within 1cm of the world record with 6.24m to take the Olympic title. Two years later, she broke the world record of Fanny Blankers-Koen (Holland) with a jump of 6.28m in Gisborne.
Williams was 17 when she joined the Otago Ladies Athletics Club and linked up with Bellwood, who perfected her technique on the St Clair sandhills.
"That was my favourite training ground. I could take off from the top of the sandhills and practise my hitch kick in the air."
Williams will always remain part of the fabric of Otago sport. The image of her jumping on the St Clair sandhills is etched into the Otago sporting psyche.
Williams returned to Helsinki in 2002 for the 50th anniversary of the Olympic Games there and was amazed when the crowd of 20,000 gave her a standing ovation.
