Running at his first Olympics at the age of 30, he easily qualified through the early stages and was third in his semi-final. When it came to the final Williams, ran a time of 20.17 seconds, which would have been enough to medal at the previous Olympics. However, the 1996 Olympic 200 meter race was one of the fastest ever as Michael Johnson knocked a third of a second off the world record, Frankie Fredericks ran the third fastest time ever, and Ato Boldon finished in 19.80 seconds. Williams had to settle for fifth (behind Obadele Thompson) in his final appearance on the global stage.