Dianne Durham, first Black woman to win USA Gymnastics national championship, has died at 52
By McKay Bolden
February 6, 2021 / 7:57 AM
/ CBS News
Dianne Durham, the first Black woman to win a United States Gymnastics national championship, died in Chicago at the age of 52 on Thursday. Her husband told the Associated Press that Durham had a "short illness."
Durham was a trailblazer in American gymnastics. At only 14 years old, Durham won the all-around at the 1983 national championships and was the first Black woman to do so in the organization's history.
Durham and Mary Lou Retton were the first star American pupils of Romanian-American gymnastics coaches, Bela and Martha Karolyi. Durham won the McDonald's International Invitational in Los Angeles in 1983, however her injuries slowed her down, forcing the gymnast to miss the 1983 world championships.