Bill Green (hammer thrower)
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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Birth name | William Hipkiss | ||||||||||||||
Born | Laurel, Maryland | April 28, 1960||||||||||||||
Occupation | Current: Insurance Executive Former: Professional Athlete | ||||||||||||||
Employer(s) | Medical Insurance Exchange of California (MIEC) Oakland, California | ||||||||||||||
Spouse | Julie Green | ||||||||||||||
Children | William John, Jr. ("Jack") and Victoria ("Tori") | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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William Green (born April 28, 1960) is an American former
Personal life and family
Bill Green grew up in the Silicon Valley region of the San Francisco Bay Area, graduating from
Green is the son of William Hipkiss, an attorney and actor in community theater who in the 1970s and 1980s performed in over 20 productions at the Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts in Muskegon, Michigan and other parts of Western Michigan.[4][5] His mother was Barbara Green, former mayor and city councilwoman in the historical Lake Tahoe town of Truckee, California, who also served one term as County Supervisor for Nevada County, California.[6] Bill was adopted at age five by Barbara Green's second husband Kenneth Green, and raised in California since the age of three.[7]
Athletic career
Green was asked by the Fremont High School (Sunnyvale, CA) coaching staff to try out for the sport of track and field, based upon observations made in a physical education weightlifting class. A discus thrower for two years in high school who failed to qualify for the California state meet, he was recruited by renowned throwing coach Art Venegas near the beginning of his career. Venegas would later develop 33 national champions in 28 years as assistant and head coach at UCLA, a record never approached by any other university.[8] Encouragement to try the hammer throw as a college freshman resulted in an NCAA All American designation and an AAU National Junior Champion title in 1979 in just five months with the event, and a ranking of third in the United States at the senior level three years later in 1982.[9]
He placed tenth at the 1980
Green competed at the height of hammer throw performance historically, a time when the event was dominated by the Eastern Bloc communist sports system.
Endorsements and media appearances
He appeared in television shows, commercials, print advertisements and did product endorsement for such companies as
Retirement from athletics
Green became disillusioned with the lack of support and training resources necessary for an American athlete to challenge in an area of sports dominated by the Eastern Bloc athletic system at the height of its success in the 1980s.[18] This factor, combined with the belief that drug use was required to medal at a second Olympic Games and a limited interest in the event in the United States, eroded his enthusiasm for Track and Field.[19]
In August 1987, he became embroiled in a controversy generating international headlines when he was disqualified for doping at the Pan American Games in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he had won the silver medal. He had tested positive for testosterone with a T/E ratio of 11,2-1.[20] In April 1988 IAAF handed him an eighteen-month ban from sports for the anti-doping rule violation.[21]
After a ten-month appeal process, according to one of Green's lawyers, under threat of litigation for violating American due process rights the general secretary of International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) allowed him to compete in the 1988 United States Olympic Trials.[22] Without sufficient time to prepare given the delays, he did not defend his title at the 1988 Olympic Trials or compete in the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. Green retired from track and field in 1987 at age 27.
He was inducted into the Long Beach State Athletic Hall of Fame in October 2001.[23]
Professional career
Beginning as a trainee at the Century City, California office of international insurance broker Johnson & Higgins, he became a sales and marketing executive with the SCPIE Companies (a division of Johnson and Higgins). He served as Vice President of Sales at SCPIE until 2006, and later held the same title at The Doctors Company in Napa, California. He has been Director of Marketing and Account Manager for the Medical Insurance Exchange of California (MIEC) in Oakland, California since 2010.
International competitions
National titles
- USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
- Hammer throw: 1986
- United States Olympic Trials
- Hammer throw: 1984
- USA Outdoor Junior Track and Field Championships
- Hammer throw: 1979
Records
See also
References
- ^ "Former Napa Resident Jack Green signs with UC Irvine". April 22, 2019.
- ^ "Huntington Beach family blames coronavirus pandemic after son, 19, killed himself". Orange County Register. March 29, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
- ^ "Green Residence Huntington Beach".
- ^ "Attorney William Hipkiss". October 8, 2008.
- ^ "William Hipkiss Life Story Digital Film". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021.
- ^ "History of Truckee Town Council". Archived from the original on August 24, 2013.
- ^ "Boynton Morris Green 1891-1987" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2013.
- ^ "International Festival of Athletics Coaching". Archived from the original on May 31, 2015.
- ^ "Sports Reference Olympic Sports". Archived from the original on April 18, 2020.
- ^ "US Olympic Trials History". Track & Field News. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
- ^ "Soviet Dominance and Modern History".
- ^ "Hammer Throw Champions and Records".
- ^ "A Technique Analysis of the Hammer Throw for Men and Women".
- ^ "US Mark Broken in Hammer Throw". The New York Times. July 16, 1984.
- ^ "History of US Nationals Results: Hammer Throw - Men". Track & Field News. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
- ^ Care*free Commercial (with Wendy Wyland and Carey Lowell), retrieved January 22, 2024
- ^ "Full Cast and Crew for Matilda".
- ^ "86.74 is Going to Stand For a Long Time". June 13, 2011.
- ^ "Restoration of Respect for American Hammer Throwing in the Olympics".
- ^ Green seeing red over results, The Telegraph, August 23, 1987
- ^ IAAF hands down suspensions, Gettysburg Times, April 19, 1988
- ^ Cart, Julie (October 11, 1988). "Turned in Circles". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Seven inducted into Hall of Fame". CSULB Online 49er. August 9, 2001.
Further reading
- "Restoration of Respect for American Hammer Throwing in the Olympics" https://hammerthrow.org/training-resources/articles/bill-green/
- Biographical information https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78476
- Bill Green at World Athletics https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/bill-green-14345764