William Henry "Billy" Nieder (born August 10, 1933) is an American athlete who mainly competed in the shot put. He was born in Hempstead, New York, and grew up in Lawrence, Kansas.
He competed for the United States at the 1956 Summer Olympics and received a silver medal for his 18.18 m long throw, losing to Parry O'Brien. Four year later, Nieder later won gold with his throw of 19.68 m/64' 63⁄4" inches at the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy. The mark was the Olympic record and was an improvement of 5 feet from his mark 4 years earlier. Parry O'Brien had also improved over that time but was almost 2 feet behind Nieder with Dallas Long third.
A graduate of the University of Kansas, Nieder was the first collegiate athlete to better the 60-foot mark with a 16-pound shot. He was also the first high school prep athlete to break the 60-foot barrier with a 12-pound shot put.
Nieder, who set the shot put world record on three occasions, tried boxing when his track and field career ended following the 1960 Olympics. He was knocked out in his first bout and hung up the gloves for good.
We knew He was dead, it is finished, He said
We had watched as His life ebbed away
Then we all stood around till the guards took Him down
Joseph begged for His body that day
It was late afternoon when we got to the tomb
Wrapped His body and sealed up the grave
So I know how you feel, His death was so real
But please listen and hear what I say
I've just seen Jesus, I tell you He's alive
I've just seen Jesus, our precious Lord alive
And I knew He really saw me too
As if till now I'd never lived
All that I'd done before won't matter anymore
I've just seen Jesus and I'll never be the same again
It was His voice she first heard, those kind gentle words
Asking what was her reason for tears
And I sobbed in despair, my Lord is not there