No 26: Yvette Williams wins triple gold (1954)
There are versatile athletes - and then there is Yvette Williams.
Otago's greatest sportswoman had the golden touch in virtually every sport she attempted.
Williams could run like the wind, jump a mile, hurl the discus and the shot put, clamber over hurdles, and even shine on the basketball court.
She was New Zealand sportsman of the year twice (1950 and 1952), and named New Zealand's champion sportsperson of the 1950s.
The latter honour principally recognised her astonishing Olympic gold medal (more of that later in the series), but it also encompassed her efforts at the 1954 Commonwealth Games in Vancouver.
In the Canadian city, Williams completely dominated her specialist events to win triple gold in the long jump, discus and shot put.
It was no great shock - Williams was in her prime, and rated the best all-round female athlete in the Commonwealth - but she still had to produce good performances on the day.
In The Games, authors Ron Palenski and Terry Maddaford describe Williams being the subject of much attention as she trained on the compressed-cinders track at the University of British Columbia.
"Williams trained morning and afternoon, wearing the several-times patched track shoes she had worn when she won the Olympic long jump at Helsinki two years before.
"She concentrated more on the throwing event, describing the discus as 'temperamental', and on the hurdles rather than the long jump which, although she was probably too modest to concede, she was certain to win."
Williams had set a world record with a jump of 6.29m in Gisborne before the Commonwealth Games.
She won New Zealand's first gold medal in Vancouver, in the shot put, with a throw of 13.96m on her first attempt.
Nearly a week later, she made the final of the 80m hurdles, finishing sixth, before attempting the discus-long jump double the next day, the final day of athletics competition.
Williams stepped up a gear and completely dominated both events.
She leaped 5.94m to break her own Commonwealth Games long jump record, and increased the mark to 6.08m, finishing 24cm clear of her nearest rival.
Williams then threw the discus 45m, nearly 5m clear of silver medallist Suzanne Allday, of England, to complete a remarkable week.
