Ann Margaret Griffiths (; born 20 August 1965) is an English retired athlete who competed in middle-distance events. In the 800 meters, she won a silver medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games and finished seventh in the final at the 1991 World Championships, before going on to represent Great Britain in the 1500 metres at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
Biography A member of Sale Harriers Manchester athletics club, Williams became the British 800 metres champion after winning the British AAA Championships title at the 1990 AAA Championships.
Williams won a silver medal for England in the 800 metres, at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand, in a race that was a one-two for the club, with the winner being Diane Edwards.
Williams ran under two minutes for 800m for the first time, when running 1:59.88 for fourth at the 1991 Europa Cup, to become the sixth British woman to break the two-minute barrier (after Christina Boxer, Shireen Bailey, Kirsty McDermott, Lorraine Baker and Diane Edwards). Two months later she reached the final at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, finishing seventh.
Williams achieved her career-best 1500m time of 4:07.59 when winning at the Golden Gala Rome Grand Prix on 9 June 1992. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics she fell in her qualifying heat and was unfortunate to be disqualified.
Now competing under her married name Ann Griffiths, she achieved her career-best at 800m, running 1:59.81 for fifth in the final at the 1994 European Championships.
International competitions Representing 1990Commonwealth GamesAuckland, New Zealand2nd800 m2:00.40Representing 1990European ChampionshipsSplit, Yugoslavia15th (sf)800 m2:03.361991European CupFrankfurt, Germany4th800 m1:59.88World ChampionshipsTokyo, Japan7th800 m2:01.011992Olympic GamesBarcelona, Spainheats (fell)1500 mDQ1994European ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland5th800 m1:59.81 (sf) Indicates overall position in semifinals
National titles UK Championships 800 metres (1989) AAA Championships 800 metres (1990) AAA Championships 1500 metres (1991)
Personal bests Outdoor 800 metres – 1:59.81 (Helsinki 1994) 1500 metres – 4:07.59 (Rome 1992) Indoor 1000 metres – 2:40.07 (Birmingham 1996) 1500 metres – 4:16.25 (Birmingham 1996)
References
All-Athletics profile