William ("Bill") Franklin Porter
II (March 24, 1926 – March 10, 2000) was an American
athlete, winner of 110 metre
hurdles at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
Born in
Essex Township,
Michigan
, William Porter attended The Hill School
in Pottstown, Pennsylvania and graduated class of
44'. Then attending Western Michigan
University
.
Porter won his only
AAU
Championship title in 1948 in 110 m hurdles and thus qualified to
the
Olympic Games. Although the best
American hurdler
Harrison Dillard
did not qualify to the Olympics, the three Americans Porter,
Clyde Scott and
Craig Dixon were headlong over the rest of the
field in the Olympic final. From the start to finish they ran
almost neck to neck, with the others some five yards behind. In the
finish, Porter gained a clear win with Scott beating Dixon by
inches for second place.
After his
athletics career, Porter worked for the Northwestern
Alumni Association Board and later opened a sales
agency in California
.
William
Porter died in Irvine,
California
.