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.
Durham claimed not to have thought about the importance of her victory.
“People said, you’re the first Black I’m using Black because African American wasn’t a term in my era national champion. Do you know that didn’t go through my head one time?” Durham told ESPN.com last year. “Not one time. Do you know how many people had to tell me that? I could not understand why that was such a humongous deal.”
Durham and Retton were the first star American pupils of Bela and Martha Karolyi, who moved from Romania to the United States in the early 1980s. Durham moved to train with the Karolyis in Texas and appeared to be on the fast track to a spot on the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team. She won the McDonald’s International Invitational in Los Angeles in 1983, a meet held at Pauley Pavilion, the site of the Olympic gymnastics competition a year later.
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“The door was open by Dianne,” Drahozal said.
Durham claimed not to have thought about the importance of her victory.
“People said, you’re the first Black I’m using Black because African American wasn’t a term in my era national champion. Do you know that didn’t go through my head one time?” Durham told ESPN.com last year. “Not one time. Do you know how many people had to tell me that? I could not understand why that was such a humongous deal.”
Durham and Retton were the first star American pupils of Bela and Martha Karolyi, who moved from Romania to the United States in the early 1980s. Durham moved to train with the Karolyis in Texas and appeared to be on the fast track to a spot on the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team. She won the McDonald’s International Invitational in Los Angeles in 1983, a meet held at Pauley Pavilion, the site of the Olympic gymnastics competition a year later.
Lisa Genesen/AP
Dianne Durham, the first Black woman to win a USA Gymnastics national championship, died Thursday in Chicago following a short illness, her husband said. She was 52.
Durham was a pioneer in American gymnastics. Her victory in the all-around at the 1983 national championships as a teenager was the first by a Black woman in the organization’s history.
“I think between her and Mary Lou Retton, they felt they introduced more of a power gymnastics,” said Durham’s husband, Tom Drahozal. “Dianne was a pioneer for Black gymnasts as well . She paved the way for others.”
That group includes Olympic champions Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas as well as Dominique Dawes, a gold medalist on the storied 1996 U.S. Olympic team.