Richard Norris Williams won two U.S. Opens, three Grand Slams in doubles and one in mixed doubles, as well as a gold medal at the 1924 Paris Olympics.

His story is amazing not only for his sporting achievements. He survived the sinking of the Titanic and was a hero in the First World War.

Norris Williams was traveling on the Titanic in first class with his father his final destination was Harvard University. He was 21 years old.

When the Titanic struck an iceberg, Norris helped a White Star Line worker escape from a locked door.

The man threatened to sue him for damages. James Cameron told the anecdote in the movie ‘Titanic’.

Norris and his father remained on the boat until it sank. They fell into the water and a wave separated them. He clung to a lifeboat.

He spent six hours in the water freezing along with 30 other men. Nineteen of them died of hypothermia before being rescued.

The doctors wanted to amputate his legs, which were gangrenous due to hypothermia, but he refused: “I need them to play tennis”.

Norris managed to recover. Three months later, he returned to the tennis courts, in an exhibition with Karl Behr, another Titanic survivor.

In the following US Championship (now US Open) Norris won in doubles with Mary Kendall Browne. He also won the Davis Cup with the US team.

A year later, in 1914, Norris won the US Open in singles and reached number 2 in the world ranking. In 1916 he won his second US Open.

World War I interrupted his career. He fought in France with the rank of captain and was decorated with the Legion of Honor in 1918.

After the end of the war, he won both Wimbledon and two more US Opens in the doubles category.

At the 1924 Paris Olympics, she won gold in mixed doubles with Hazel Hotcshkiss Wightman despite suffering a 2nd degree sprain during the tournament.

Richard Norris Williams was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1957 and died on June 2, 1968 in Pennsylvania at the age of 77.