 Bianca Williams in 2018 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1993-12-18)18 December 1993 (age 31) Enfield, London, United Kingdom |
| Education | University of East London |
| Height | 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) |
| Weight | 57 kg (126 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Club | Enfield & Haringey AC[1] |
| Coached by | Lloyd Cowan |
Medal record | |
Bianca Williams (born 18 December 1993) is a British athlete.[1] She won the silver medal in the women's 4 x 100 metres relay at the2024 Summer Olympics.
She competed for England at the2014 Commonwealth Games, where she won bronze medals in the200 m, and in the4 × 100 m relay. She has also won two medals as part of the British team at theIAAF World Relays; with silver in the4 × 200 m in2014,[2] and bronze in the 4 × 100 m in2015. She ranks fifth on the UK all-time list at 200m with her best of 22.45 secs.
Williams was one of a series of British female youth sprinters to appear on the world stage in the 2010s , along withJodie Williams,Ashleigh Nelson,Desirèe Henry,Dina Asher-Smith andAsha Philip, later supplemented in the 2020s byDaryll Neita,Imani Lansiquot andAmy Hunt. Predominantly a relay athlete, she paused her career to have her first child in 2020, aged 26. She returned a few years later in 2022 to renewed individual form, setting a lifetime best in her favoured event in 2023, and qualifying for the individual 200 metres at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Domestically, Williams in 2025, at the age of 31, wonher first national title, indoors over 60 metres.
In November 2023, Williams was named in theBBC's100 Women list, which features 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world.[3]
In 2014, Williams won a bronze medal at theWorld Relays in the 4×200 m relay.[2] In June, she ran a new 200 m personal best of 22.79 s in finishing second at theGolden Spike Ostrava.[4] Williams competed at the2014 Commonwealth Games inGlasgow, winning bronze medals in the 200 m and 4×100 m relay and finishing sixth in the 100 m.[5][6] She also competed at the2014 European Championships, finishing fourth over 200 m.[7][8]
The following year, at theWorld Relays, Williams won a bronze medal at the 4×100 m relay. At theEuropean Team Championships inCheboksary, she finished second in the 200 m.[9] In August, she competed at theWorld Championships inBeijing, making it to the semi-finals of the 200 m.[10]
Williams won a silver medal in the 4×100 m relay at the2016 European Championships.[11] She competed at the2017 World Championships in London, making the semi-finals of the 200 m.[12]
In 2018, Williams reached the semi-finals of the 60 mWorld Indoor Championships inBirmingham, running a new personal best of 7.26 s.[13] At the2018 Commonwealth Games, held on theGold Coast, she finished sixth over 200 m and won gold in the 4×100 m relay.[14] In July, Williams competed at theAthletics World Cup in London, where she won a gold medal in the 4×100 m relay and finished fourth in the 100 m.[15] Williams also competed at theEuropean Championships, where she won a gold medal in the 4×100 m relay and finished sixth in the 200 m.[16]
Williams won a silver medal in the 4×100 m relay at the2022 Commonwealth Games inBirmingham, before being upgraded to gold due to a doping violation.[17][18] In 2023, Williams captained the British team at theEuropean Team Championships First Division,[19] as they finished fifth with Williams running her fastest 200 m in five years to finish second in that event in 22.75 s.[20] She ran 22.59 s, only 0.01 s off of her personal best, over the distance to finish second at theBritish Championships behindDaryll Neita.[21] At theWorld Championships in Budapest, Williams reached the semi-finals in the 200 m, running a new personal best of 22.45 s.[22] She went onto win a bronze medal as part of the 4×100 m relay team, alongside her teammatesAsha Philip,Imani Lansiquot andDaryll Neita.[23]
In 2024, Williams was part of the British team at theWorld Relays, winning a bronze medal in the 4×100 m relay.[24] In July, she was officially selected for her firstOlympics as part of Great Britian's Olympic team.[25] At theGames in Paris, Williams made it to the semi-finals of the 200 m and won a silver medal after running in the heats of the 4×100 m relay.[26][27]
Williams improved her seven-year old 60 m personal best of 7.26 s by running 7.21 s to win at theISTAF Indoor Düsseldorf on 9 February 2025.[28] She won her first national title at the2025 British Indoor Championships, winning over 60 m in a time of 7.19 s.[29] On 28 February, she lowered her personal best again to 7.16 s at theVilla de Madrid Indoor Meeting.[30] At theEuropean Indoor Championships inApeldoorn, Williams made the semi-finals of the 60 m, running 7.17 s.[31]
Williams lives inMaida Vale and in addition to her track career, works as a part-time tennis coach.[32][33] She is in a relationship with the Portuguese sprinterRicardo dos Santos with whom she has a son, born in 2020.[34]
On 4 July 2020, Williams and dos Santos accused theMetropolitan Police ofracial profiling after having their car stopped and searched whilst returning from a training session. Williams uploaded a video of them both being detained and searched. After the incident occurred,Linford Christie shared Williams' video of the incident on Twitter, with the comment "Racist police aren't just in America #BLM".[35] Williams subsequently spoke withThe Times and accused the police of racial profiling and acting violently towards her family.Keir Starmer said onLBC that senior Met officers should feel “very uncomfortable” about the force's handling of the case.[34][36][37]
The Met released a statement, saying the vehicle Williams was travelling in had been on the wrong side of the road, and that the driver had sped off when asked to stop.[38] They also said the Directorate of Professional Standards had reviewed footage from social media and officers' bodycams, and were satisfied there was no concern around the officers' conduct involved in the incident.[38] On 7 July 2020, the Met voluntarily referred the incident to theIndependent Office for Police Conduct, for independent investigation into the incident.[39] Additionally, they stated that they were now treating the matter as a 'public complaint'.[39]
On 1 July 2021, it was announced that three of the six officers involved were under investigation for gross misconduct.[40] In January 2023, it was reported that five officers were to face a gross misconduct hearing, and that an investigator at theIOPC resigned in November 2020, complaining that her investigation of the incident had been "watered down".[41] The disciplinary hearing against the five officers, who deny the allegations, began on 18 September 2023.[42] Two of the five officers were found guilty of gross misconduct in that they had lied about smelling cannabis. None of the officers were found guilty of misconduct in relation to the stopping of the vehicle, or the handcuffing of the couple.[43] The two officers found guilty of gross misconduct were dismissed.[44] The police misconduct panel who considered the 2020 incident deemed Williams to be 'a credible and thoughtful witness' who had clearly been deeply affected by the incident.[45] After the officers were sacked, a crowdfunding page was set up for the officers' benefit. As at 30 October 2023, more than £140,000 had been raised for them. Williams said she was "shocked with the amount of money that’s been raised".[46]
On 4 October 2024, thePolice Appeals Tribunal overturned the gross misconduct outcome and reinstated the jobs of the two officers as well as ordering they receive back pay.[47][48]
On 4 December 2023,Magistrates imposed on Williams a six-month driving ban, 18 points on her driving licence and fines, surcharges and costs totalling £471. Williams pleaded guilty to failing on three separate occasions to advise the police, in writing, who it was that had been driving herTesla Model 3 car. The vehicle was alleged to have been involved in an incident earlier in the year. The athlete told the court that she wasn't the driver at the time of the alleged incident and that imposing a ban may jeopardise her chances of qualifying for the2024 Olympic Games. Williams told the Court she would have difficulty attending her training sessions if she had to rely onpublic transport. Following her guilty-plea, Williams' suspended driving licence has an accumulated total of 29 penalty points.[32][33]
| Event | Time | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 m | 7.16 | Madrid, Spain | 28 February 2025 |
| 100 m | 11.17 | Geneva, Switzerland | 14 June 2014 |
| 150 m | 17.06 | Newham, London | 29 May 2017 |
| 200 m | 22.45 | Budapest, Hungary | 24 August 2023 |
| 400 m | 54.34 | Rovereto, Italy | 29 August 2017 |
Commonwealth Games champions in women's4 × 100 metres relay | |
|---|---|
| 4 x 110 yards (1954–1966) | |
| 4 x 100 metres (1970–present) |
|
