Willie Gault was born in Griffin, Georgia, where he played football and ran track at Griffin High School. Highly recruited as a dual sport athlete, he chose the University of Tennessee for its football and track programs. On the gridiron, Gault was named Consensus All-American in 1982 and led Tennessee in all-purpose yards for three consecutive years, leaving Tennessee as one of the greatest kick returners in college football history. During his career at UT, Gault caught 89 passes for 1,482 yards and 10 touchdowns, returned 78 kickoffs for 1,854 yards and four touchdowns, and returned 78 punts for 659 yards and a touchdown.
As a member of the Vol track team, Gault was an 11-time All-American. He was the 1983 NCAA Indoor champion in the 60 yard dash and 60 yard hurdles and a member of the NCAA Outdoor winning 4×100 meter relay the same year. In 1981 and 1982, Gault was the SEC Champion in the 110 meter hurdles, and in 1983, he captured the SEC Championship in the 200 meter. Gault was the high point scorer in the 1982 and 1983 SEC Championship track meets and finished his time at UT holding 12 school records in football and 3 in track and field.
Considered one of the fastest NFL players of all time, Gault was a first round pick by the Chicago Bears in 1983, and went on to help the Bears win Super Bowl XX in 1986. Gault played eleven years in the NFL, with the Bears and Raiders, and garnered respect as one of the best dual sport athletes to ever play.
Gault was a member of the 1980 United States Olympic track team and in the 1983 World Championships, he was on the world record setting 4×100 meter relay team. A two-time Olympic performer, Gault also made the Olympic bobsledding team in 1988. Gault is still an elite athlete who holds records for the 100 meter and 200-meter dashes for the Masters competition, where he, at the age of 50, ran a 10.88 100-meter dash. Gault has broken to date 14 world records in track and field over a span of 35 years. Gault now lives in Los Angeles, California.