Willie Bank was a track & field athlete who competed in the triple jump…..when on June 16, 1985 he set a world record of 17.97 m (58 feet 11.5 inches) at the US National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA…..while he had finished second in the NCAA Championships in 1977 and 1978…..then he broke the American triple jump record in 1981…..and qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but did not compete due to the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics in Russia.
Banks was a member of the 1984 and 1988 Olympic teams….and participated with the 1983 and 1987 IAAF World Championships in Athletics World Championship teams. He was awarded the Track & Field News and United States Olympic Committee Athlete of the Year in 1985 ….and won the Jesse Owens Award as the Outstanding Athlete in Track and Field.
