However, as his high school required participation in athletic competitions, he started training in sprint in 1924 and by 1927 became a local champion.

[5] Williams's victories were front-page news in Canada and he returned a national hero, feted by enormous crowds across the country.

An estimated 25,000 people turned out to welcome him at the Canadian Pacific Railway station at the foot of Granville Street in Vancouver.

[6] Williams showed that his success was not an accident, setting a World Record at the Canadian Track and Field Championships at Varsity Stadium in Toronto in 1930.

[6] In August 1940, Williams joined the Non-Permanent Active Militia, his occupation listed as "Salesman" and religion as "C of E" (Church of England).

In 2023 the stolen medals were replaced by newly minted replicas, recreated by the International Olympic Committee at the request of Williams family, who then rededicated them to B.C.

A keen collector of guns, Williams shot himself in the head with a shotgun he had been awarded in 1928 as a prize for his Olympic feat.

[16] In 1996, Canada Post released a postage stamp of Percy Williams as part of its "Sporting Heroes" series.