The incredible story of Richard Norris Williams, the American tennis player who survived the Titanic sinking and then won gold at the Olympics

The incredible story of Richard Norris Williams, the American tennis player who survived the Titanic sinking and then won gold at the Olympics | Business Insider India

Posted by author July 24, 2024 Tennis

Richard Norris Williams survived the sinking of the Titanic and went on to become an Olympic gold-medalist tennis player.George Rinhart/Corbis/Getty Images; Bettman/Getty Images

Richard Norris Williams survived the sinking of the Titanic by swimming to a lifeboat.
After he was rescued, he refused a doctor’s suggestion to amputate his legs.

Richard Norris Williams was an accomplished tennis player who competed in the 1924 Paris Olympics, but he’s most famous for his incredible survival of the Titanic.

The RMS Titanic, a British passenger ship operated by the White Star Line, set sail on its infamous voyage on April 10, 1912.

Over 2,000 people were aboard the ship when it collided with an iceberg and sank during the early hours of April 15, 1912.

Of all the passengers aboard the Titanic, about 700 people made it into lifeboats. Most of the Titanic victims who did not make it onto a lifeboat either drowned, went down with the ship, or froze to death in the Atlantic Ocean as they waited to be rescued.

The survival rate for first-class male passengers aboard Titanic was just 33%, according to the study “Titanic: A Statistical Exploration,” making Williams’ story of survival all the more extraordinary.

Williams went on to win multiple tennis titles and he won a gold medal at the 1924 Paris Olympics.

A high-angle view of the opening ceremony at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The same year that he survived the Titanic sinking, Williams won the US National Tennis Championships in mixed doubles alongside Mark K. Brown and ranked among the top 10 players in the world, according to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

In 1916, he won the national title again and became the highest-ranked tennis player in the US.

In addition to his prowess on the tennis course, Williams also served in the US Army during World War I and was awarded two honors, the Légion d’Honneur and the Croix de Guerre, according to the Olympics.

After the war, Williams resumed his tennis career, and in 1920, he won a Wimbledon doubles title, The New York Times reported.

However, his tennis career reached its peak at the 1924 Paris Olympics when Williams won a mixed-doubles gold medal with his tennis partner, Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman.

Williams married twice and had four children after surviving the disaster.

Richard Norris Williams and his fiancé Jean Haddock in 1919. George Rinhart/Corbis/Getty Images

According to the Olympics, after retiring from professional tennis, Williams worked as an investment banker and then served as president of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

He was named a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1957, nine years before his death at the age of 77.

Williams died on June 2, 1968, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

According to his New York Times obituary, he was survived by his widow, Frances “Sue” Gillmore Williams, three sons, and one daughter.

His widow died on June 13, 2001, according to Main Line Times and Suburban.