Bill Green (hammer thrower)

Bill Green, born William Green on 28 April 1960, is an American former track and field athlete who threw the hammer. A discus thrower in high school who failed to qualify for the California state meet, he took up the hammer as a college freshman on the encouragement of coach Art Venegas and became an NCAA All American and the 1979 AAU National Junior champion, just five months after beginning the event. In 1983 and 1984 he set three American collegiate records and three United States national records, and after winning the 1984 Olympic trials he placed fifth in the hammer throw at the Los Angeles Olympic Games, one of only three Americans since 1952 to finish in the top five in Olympic competition. He won the national hammer throw title in 1986 and was inducted into the Long Beach State Athletic Hall of Fame in October 2001.