Willie Banks

Banks in 1988
Personal information
Full name	William Augustus Banks III
Born	March 11, 1956 (1956-03-11) (age 69)
Sport
Coached by	Randy Huntington
Medal record Men'sathletics Representingthe United States World Championships 1983 Helsinki Triple jump

William Augustus Banks III (born March 11, 1956) is an American athlete. Born atTravis Air Force Base, California, he grew up inSan Diego County and went toOceanside High School.^{[citation needed]} Banks is anEagle Scout.^[1]

Banks was atrack & field athlete competing in thetriple jump. On June 16, 1985 he set a world record of 17.97 m (58 feet 11.5 inches) at the national championships inIndianapolis, Indiana, USA. He finished second in theNCAA Championships in 1977 and 1978. He earned his B.A. andJuris Doctor (J.D.) fromUCLA. He broke the American triple jump record in 1981. He qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but did not compete due to the U.S. Olympic Committee'sboycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russia. He was one of 461 athletes to receive aCongressional Gold Medal instead.^[2] Banks was a member of the 1984 and 1988 Olympic teams and participated with the 1983 and 1987IAAF World Championships in Athletics World Championship teams. He was awarded theTrack & Field News andUnited States Olympic Committee Athlete of the Year in 1985 and won theJesse Owens Award as the Outstanding Athlete in Track and Field.^[3]

He servedUSA Track & Field as chair of the Athletes Advisory Committee in addition to serving as an organization vice president.

Banks will always be remembered as one of the most flamboyant athletes to compete in track and field. He is the originator of the now common hand clapping that takes place during many track and field events,^[4] and which he first did atDN-galan in 1981.^[5]

Banks exuberant personality was also present in his jumping. He has been reported as laughing during some of his jumps. When he set theworld record of 17.97 m at the 1985USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, his attention seemed more intent on completing his jump in order to cheer for teammate Louise Romo who was completing her800 metres on the track adjacent to the runway at the same time.^[6][7] He held that record for over ten years untilJonathan Edwards broke it for the first time in 1995 with 17.98m. He also jumped 18.20m at Indianapolis in 1988, but this was assisted by anover the limit wind reading of 5.2 m/s. Held Masters Triple Jump (M45 & M60) and Masters High Jump (M55 & M60) Records.

Banks was inducted into the USANational Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1999 and was still competing at an advanced age. In 2006, he cleared an impressive 14.00 m to head the 2006 World Masters rankings in the 50–54 age group, just 7 cm behind that age-group's world record. He won the 2007World Masters Athletics Championships in that same age group. On September 22, 2012, Banks became the oldest American to clear 6 feet in thehigh jump at the age of 56 using just a 3-step approach and the classic "roll" technique.^[8] For that performance, Banks was named the USATF Athlete of the Week.^[9]

Banks was President of the US Olympians Association from 2005 to 2008.^[10] In 2008 he joined the newly reconstitutedUSATF Board of Directors.^[11] Banks was on a panel on anESPN "Outside the Lines" episode regarding athlete involvement in social issues, dated May 18, 2008.

Banks serves as the President & Chief Executive Officer of the Local Organizing Committee ofANOC2019 World Beach Games San Diego 2019, the inauguralWorld Beach Games.^[12][13]

Banks was ranked among the best in the US and the world over the incredible spread of 18 seasons from 1975 to 1992, including twice world number 1 in 1981 and 1985, according to the votes of the experts ofTrack and Field News.^[14][15]

• World Fit

• Willie Banks atWorld Athletics
• Willie Banks at theUSATFHall of Fame (archived)
• William Augustus Banks III atOlympics.com
• Willie Banks at Olympic.org (archived)
• Willie Banks atOlympedia
• Willie Banks atOlympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)

Records
Preceded by João Carlos de Oliveira	Men's Triple Jump World Record Holder 1985-06-16 – 1995-07-18	Succeeded by Jonathan Edwards

• 1956 births
• Living people
• American male triple jumpers
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
• Olympic track and field athletes for the United States
• Sportspeople from Oceanside, California
• World record setters in athletics (track and field)
• UCLA Bruins men's track and field athletes
• World Athletics Championships medalists
• American masters athletes
• Track and field athletes from San Diego
• World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
• Congressional Gold Medal recipients
• Medalists at the 1977 Summer Universiade
• Medalists at the 1979 Summer Universiade
• Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)
• FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games
• Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games
• Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)
• 20th-century American sportsmen

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