Former Canadian sprinter, and a finalist in the 100 metres sprint event at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Desai Williams, has died at the age of 62.
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There was no cause of death given.
Williams was one of the world’s top sprinters in the 1980s, helping the Canadian 4×100 metres team win the bronze medal at the 1984 Los Angeles — along with Ben Johnson, Sterling Hinds and Tony Sharpe.
Williams trained with the Scarborough Optimists Track Club in his early days. One of his teammates, both at the club and national team level, was Angella Taylor (Issajenko), a member of the Canadian women’s 4×100 metres relay team that won the silver medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Taylor also won individual sprint medals at the Commonwealth, Pan American and Universiade Games.
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“When I first joined the group I was the only girl with all these awesome guys (and) Desai was the funniest guy, always telling jokes,” Taylor stated.
“Every practice we worked really hard, but we were always laughing. We trained together and travelled the world competing for 10 glorious years. We will miss him dearly.”
Born in Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis, Williams became a national team sprint coach after his competitive career was over as well as a speed coach for the Toronto Argonauts.
On Monday, former Argos quarterback Damon Allen tweeted: “My Condolences to the family of Desai Williams, I will miss our times on the track during our run to the Grey Cup in 2004. Thank you.”
Williams reached the semifinals in the 100 metres at the 1983 and 1987 world track and field championships.
He set his personal best 200 metres in a time of 20.29 seconds in 1983 and a PB in the 100 (10.11) in Seoul.
Williams was fired as a coach by Athletics Canada in 2015. A probe found that Williams had violated the organization’s sexual harassment policy while a coach in 2010. In 2018, he was handed a lifetime ban by Athletics Canada.
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