William Holland (athlete)

William Joseph Holland (born March 3, 1874 - died November 20, 1930) was an American track and field athlete.

At the age of 26, Holland, a medical student at Georgetown University, [Reynolds, J.K., "Georgetown, The Library, the South, Atlanta and the Olympics," Luncheon Remarks, Atlanta, Georgia (April 26, 1996). [http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/atlanta.htm] ] won the Silver medal in the Men's 400-metre race at the 1900 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, with a time of 49.6 seconds, just 2 tenth of a second behind Gold-medal winner U.S. teammate Maxey Long. ["Track & Field," "1900 Olympics", DatabaseOlympics (databaseSports.com, 2002-2006). [http://www.databaseolympics.com/games/gamessport.htm?g=2&sp=ATH] ]

Holland placed fourth in the 200 metres, winning his semifinal heat with a time of 24.0 seconds before finishing fourth of four in the hotly contested final, in which his estimated time of 22.9 seconds was identical to that of the bronze medalist Stanley Rowley and .1 seconds slower than the second place man, Norman Pritchard. Holland also competed in the 60 metre event, placing third in his first-round heat and not advancing to the final.

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