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Story: Sports and leisure

Yvette Williams at the Empire Games, 1950

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Yvette Williams at the Empire Games, 1950

From Berlin in 1936 when Jack Lovelock won the 1,500 metres, to Montreal in 1976 when John Walker repeated the feat, New Zealand had a strong tradition of success in Olympic athletics. The finest woman athlete during these years was Yvette Williams, who won the gold medal for the long jump at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. She is shown here winning the same event at the British Empire Games in Auckland two years earlier.

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New Zealand Herald

Reference: 1950

Permission of the New Zealand Herald must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Sports and leisure – Organised sports, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/4144/yvette-williams-at-the-empire-games-1950 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 15 January 2010, updated 1 September 2015.