[9][10] Williams also received a bronze medal as a member of the 4x100 meters USA relay team at the 1981 IAAF World Cup in Rome.

Williams's injury emerged in the qualifying heat in the morning, he grabbed at his thigh 15 meters from the finish line.

[18] He first came to the world's attention in 1973, first by tying the world record for 100 yards (at 9.1 seconds),[20][21] second by winning both the 100 and 220 yards events at the AAU meet (the first person to do this since Ray Norton in 1960), and thirdly by defeating the great Soviet sprinter Valeriy Borzov on the final leg of the sprint relay at the US versus USSR meet in Minsk.

[22][23][24][25] He also set the world's best electronically timed performance in the men's 200 meters that year on June 16 at a meet in Bakersfield, clocking 20.33 s. Williams impressive form continued into 1974 where he equalled the 100 m world record, defended his short sprint title at the AAU Championships, and came second at the NCAA Championships 200 meters event.

Here he worked with his coach, Brooks Johnson, at the Florida Track Club, to help achieve his Olympic dream and a "9.8 and 19.6 kind of human excellence".

[32] His disappointment at being denied Olympic glory was only somewhat assuaged by success at the 1977 IAAF Athletics World Cup - 'This is as close as I can get', he is reported as saying.

[33] His narrow victory in the 100 m over Eugen Ray (representing East Germany) was followed by a world record as the anchor for the US team in the sprint relay.

This meant he had to limit his races, and caused him to lean prematurely with pain at the finish of the 100 m.[34] Williams has also admitted his decision to swap the baton between his hands after the final exchange of the relay may have cost the team the distinction of being the first to run under 38 s,[9][35] but he also counters that it was a movement that was natural to him, and is a tactic shared by other great sprinters, including Carl Lewis.

Williams also offers the opinion that being a one-off race meant the team did not get to practise under the competitive conditions of running in a heat and semi-final first.

[34][note 5][36] Williams was ranked among the best in the US and the world in both the 100 and 200 m sprint events from 1972 to 1980, according to the votes of the experts of Track and Field News.

[37][38][39][40] Williams also showed early promise as 440y/400m runner and in 1972 was ranked seventh by Track and Field News in the United States for the 400 meters.

[67] Williams has also worked as a designer of sports shoes, for which he holds patents, and is an office holder in companies involved in this field.

[74][75] In August 2016, Williams was inducted into the San Diego State University's Hall of Fame as part of 2016 class.