Bill Tancred
- Born
- Aug 6, 1942 (84 years old)
- Birthplace
- Quetta, Pakistan
- Events
- Discus Throw · Shot Put
- Height
- 1.93 m
William Raymond Tancred (born 6 August 1942) is a sports administrator, academic, coach and former international athlete, who was also at one time a British Army PTI. He competed at the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics in the discus and won bronze, and silver medals in successive Commonwealth Games from 1970 to 1974.
He was the British national discus champion on nine occasions, and held the British record for 25 years, his personal best being 64.94m in 1974. He also competed in the shot put and remains one of the top ten British shot putters.
Athleticsweekly.com has ranked Tancred as the greatest British discus thrower of all time by virtue of his long reign as British record-holder and profusion of AAA Championships titles. Bill Tancred was also the first UK athlete to break the 200 ft/61m discus barrier in 1972, which was also a UK all-comers record for the event (61.94m). Even in 2011 he could still claim to be one of the best all round throwers ever in British Athletics.
As of Nov 6, 2026: Discus Throw 64.94 (#310 all-time), Shot Put 19.43 (#987 all-time), 1976 season best 62.14 (Jul 3, 1976, Warley (GBR)) · 84 years old
Personal bests
WA points calculator →Progression
| Season | Discipline | Result | Wind | Date | Competitions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | DT | 62.14 | – | Jul 3, 1976 | Warley (GBR) |
| 1975 | SP | 18.80 | – | Jun 5, 1975 | Loughborough (GBR) |
| 1975 | DT | 62.42 | – | Jun 5, 1975 | Loughborough (GBR) |
| 1974 | SP | 19.43 | – | May 18, 1974 | Shotley (GBR) |
| 1974 | DT | 64.94 | – | Jul 21, 1974 | Loughborough (GBR) |
| 1973 | SP | 18.41 | – | Aug 12, 1973 | London (GBR) |
| 1973 | DT | 63.98 | – | Oct 13, 1973 | Loughborough (GBR) |
| 1972 | SP | 19.05 | – | Jun 15, 1972 | Loughborough (GBR) |