William Christopher Prout (December 24, 1886 – August 4, 1927) was an American athlete.[1] He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London and was president of the American Olympic Committee.[2] He was also the tenth state deputy of the Massachusetts Knights of Columbus from 1921 to 1924.[3] Prout stood for election to become the District Attorney of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, in 1926, but lost.[2]
William Prout was born in the West End of Boston, Massachusetts, on December 24, 1886.[3] He was frail as a child.[3] He attended Boston Latin School and English High School in Andover, Massachusetts, and then Brown University and Boston University where he was president of his class.[3] Prout is in the Brown University Athletic Hall of Fame.[2]
Prout won his preliminary heat of the 400 metres at the 1908 Summer Olympics with a time of 50.4 seconds. He advanced to the semifinals, where he was eliminated following a fourth and last place finish in his semifinal heat.
He was elected president of the American Athletic Union in 1921.[3] Prout founded the Boston Irish-American Athletic Association.[2] From 1926 until his death, he was president of the American Olympic Committee.[2]
Prout served as the tenth state deputy of the Massachusetts Knights of Columbus from 1921 to 1924.[3] He was also a Supreme Director from 1922 to 1927.[2] As a knight, he sponsored the resolution that led to the creation of the Columbian Squires.[2]
For his service to the Catholic Church he was made a knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great in 1924.[2]