An all-around athlete while at the University of Colorado, Toomey won five consecutive AAU pentathlon championships between 1960 and 1964, setting new American records in 1961 and 1964. Toomey's string of 5 consecutive AAU pentathlon titles has never been matched or broken. Then in 1965, he won the first of five AAU national decathlon titles. He won the 1967 Pan American Games decathlon championship and went on to win the decathlon event at the Olympic Trials in South Lake Tahoe. While winning the gold medal at the 1968 Mexico City Games, he set Olympic records for the decathlon 400M and highest 1st day score. His historic 400M record stands unbroken after the Sydney Games. In 1969, he set world records in the decathlon and pentathlon. The pentathlon world record also stands unbroken.

Bill won the 1969 Sullivan Award as the nation's outstanding amateur athlete. He was inducted into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1975 and into the Olympic Hall of Fame in 1984. Bill received the Distinguished Service Award (DSA) from the United States Sports Academy in 2000.

Bill is an acclaimed and influential leader in the modern Olympic movement. He served as a member of the President's Commission on Olympic Sports from 1976 to 1978, contributing to the restructuring of the Olympic sports movement in the United States and passage of the Public Law 95-606. He was the Envoy to the President of the United States during the 1972 Olympic Games and was a consultant to the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee. In 1996, Bill was the Special Envoy for His Excellency Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee, in a humanitarian effort involving the government of Ethiopia. He co-founded the World Olympian Association to unite all Olympic competitors - medallists or not - with the Olympic family.

He served on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Olympic Committee from 1968 to 1976. As director of fundraising, he drove development of the Olympic training center in San Diego and facilitated record-setting corporate contributions to U.S. Olympics programs. During this time, he also developed sports programs in more than 20 countries while working for the Department of State and the Peace Corps. Bill's fundraising, humanitarian and outreach efforts continue to set precedents in building synergies between the Olympic family and hometown communities across the world.

Bill makes his home at his ranch near San Luis Obispo, CA with his wife, Trish. He has two daughters, Samantha and Sarah, from a previous marriage. He is an acclaimed broadcast personality focused on nutrition and well-being and a persuasive motivational speaker.

UPDATED: 10 OCT 2001