Bill Skinner

Bill Skinner

Skinner in 1971
Personal information
Born	December 27, 1939[1] Wilmington, DE
Died	October 5, 2015 (aged 75)[2] Georgetown, KY
Height	6 ft 6+1⁄2 in (199 cm)[2]
Weight	240 lb (109 kg)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	Javelin throw
Achievements and titles
Personal best	88.94 m (1970)[1]
Medal record Representing the  United States Pan American Games 1971 Cali Javelin throw

Bill Skinner (December 27, 1939 – October 5, 2015) was an American javelin thrower. He held the national title in 1970 and 1971 and won a silver medal at the 1971 Pan American Games.^[1]

Born in Wilmington and raised in New Castle, Delaware, Skinner was trained as a metalsmith and welder, as were his father and grandfather. In January 1957, aged 17, he quit high school and enlisted to the

Skinner married in late 1962 and had a daughter. He divorced in 1970. The same year his younger brother, Jimmy, was killed in a car accident after returning from Vietnam.[3] He remarried in 1971 and had two more daughters. After retiring from competitions, Skinner lived in Kentucky and worked for John Deere company. He was inducted into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame in 1981,^[4] and into the Delaware Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1994. He was posthumously inducted into the Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016 as part of the first class honoring male athletes. His likeness appears (uncredited) on the side of the original arcade version of the Konami Track & Field video game. He died of pancreatic cancer aged 75.^[2]

References