Dianne Durham

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Dianne Durham
Personal information
NationalityUnited States
Born(1968-06-17)June 17, 1968
Gary, Indiana
DiedFebruary 4, 2021(2021-02-04) (aged 52)
Chicago, Illinois
OccupationGymnastics school owner
Spouse(s)Tom Drahozal
Sport
SportArtistic gymnastics
Retired1985
Achievements and titles
National finalsAll-around national champion, 1983

Dianne Patrice Durham (June 17, 1968 – February 4, 2021) was an American artistic gymnast. In 1983, she won the all-around senior title at the women's US National Championships, becoming the first African American athlete to do so. She was Béla and Márta Károlyi's first elite athlete in the United States, helping establish their coaching credentials outside of the state-sponsored program of their native Romania, and trained with Mary Lou Retton, who called Durham her "best competition". After injuries and competition stipulations prevented her from competing in the 1984 Summer Olympics, Durham retired from competition in 1985. She later ran the Skyline Gymnastics school in Chicago.

Life in gymnastics[]

Dianne Patrice Durham was born June 17, 1968, in Gary, Indiana,[1] to parents Ural and Calvinita.[2] Calvinita Durham was a schoolteacher, and Ural director of industrial relations at a steel mill. Dianne, who had one sister (Alice), began gymnastics at the age of four,[2] to get the children "to stop wrecking the house."[1] She received her early training under Wanda Tomasi-Mohoi in Merrillville, Indiana.[3]

Training with the Károlyis[]

In 1981, after winning the junior elite all-around title at the US National Championships, she moved to Houston, Texas, to be coached by Béla and Márta Károlyi.[3] She initially went for a try-out, but packed with no intention of returning.[3] Tomasi encouraged the move, telling Durham's mother she was an Olympic-caliber gymnast and needed elite facilities to realize her potential.[2] One of six initial gymnasts the Károlyis selected for their training program, Durham became their first elite gymnast in the United States.[2] They had defected from Romania in 1981 and though they had trained the star of the 1976 Olympic gymnastics competition, Nadia Comaneci, they faced doubts about whether they could succeed outside Romania's state-supported program.[3] Durham's success quickly made them a presence at major competitions again.[3]

Initially Durham lived with the Karolyis in Houston, then with a host family.[3] Her mother joined her but her father stayed in Gary so her sister could finish high school.[3]

Competitive career[]

Durham successfully defended her junior national all-around title in 1982,[4] and had a breakout performance at the United States Gymnastics Federation international invitation, tying for the all-around title with teammate Kathy Johnson in Durham's first major international meet.[5] In 1983 she won the senior all-around title at the US National Championships, the first African American in women's gymnastics to take this title.[6] She also won the individual titles for bars, floor and vault, becoming the first American woman to execute a full-twisting layout Tsukahara on vault.[3] Durham said later that despite these historic achievements, she was most concerned with them as part of her road to the Olympics, her ultimate goal.[1]

Later that year Durham won the all-around title at the McDonalds International Gymnastics Championships, beating Mary Lou Retton, who was also coached by the Károlyis.[3] The two were friends, but Retton also described Durham as her "best competition".[7] Injuries prevented Durham from competing in the 1983 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.[8]

When she returned from rehabbing her injuries, she felt cast aside at the gym[3] and in February 1984, Durham left the Károlyi program to train with Scott Krause in Fort Worth, Texas.[9] But after a weak showing at the US Nationals, Károlyi approached her with an invitation to return,[3] which she accepted in the run-up to the Olympic trials.[10]

At the US team trials for the 1984 Summer Olympics, Durham was in sixth place after the first day.[3] Competing for one of seven slots, she was expected to make the team and become the first Black gymnast to compete for the United States at the Olympics, as Luci Collins had made the team but did not have the chance to compete due to the US boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games.[3] However Durham injured her ankle on vault and withdrew from the competition, on the expectation she would to be petitioned onto the Olympic team.[3] She only learned later that she was ineligible because she had not competed at the 1983 World Championship, and expressed regret no one had told her that finishing the trials on an injured ankle was her only route to the Olympics.[3] Károlyi objected to denying the prior year's national champion a slot on the team: "She was the first Black kid to ever make it to a national title. This is a pretty big injustice to not have Durham on the Olympic team. The team needs her, the country needs her."[3] But he did not succeed in persuading the USA Gymnastics Federation.[3] Durham retired from competition in 1985.[7]

Later career and legacy[]

After leaving competition, Durham became a coach, both for the Károlyis and at the University of Illinois at Chicago as well as performed in professional shows.[1] Later, she owned and operated a gymnastics school, Syline Gymnastics, on Chicago's North Side, for seventeen years.[2] She also became a gymnastics judge, coach and motivational speaker.[2]

In 2017, she was inducted to the U.S. Gymnastics Regional Hall of Fame.[11]

Durham was featured in a 2020 work by Johannesburg-based artist Thenjiwe Nkosi. The video piece, entitled "Suspension", cut together footage of Black elite gymnasts from all over the world in the moments just before their routines commenced; Durham, shown posed just before her floor routine, with arms folded across her face, is the opening image.[12] The New York Times review called the piece "sublime" and "the drop-everything-and-stream-it-now achievement of [the] video exhibition" in which it was presented.[13]

Personal life[]

As of 2012, Durham lived in Chicago with husband Tom Drahozal,[2] whom she married in 1994.[3]

Durham died after a short illness at a Chicago hospital, surrounded by family, on February 4, 2021.[6][14]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d Langer, Emily. "Dianne Durham, first Black gymnast to win U.S. national championship, dies at 52". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Linehan, Courtney; Smith, Hillary; Burbridge, John (August 13, 2012). "Where Are They Now? Dianne Durham". NWI Times. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "How Dianne Durham, Bela Karolyi's first national champion, paved the way for Black gymnasts". ESPN.com. July 18, 2020. Archived from the original on July 18, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  4. ^ Loewen Haag, Karen. "Durham, Dianne (1968—)". Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  5. ^ Hulbert, Dan (June 21, 1982). "Dianne Durham Vaults From Obscurity". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Durham, First Black US Women's Gymnastics Champion, Dies". U.S. News & World Report. February 4, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Andrew, Scottie; Boyette, Chris (February 5, 2021). "Dianne Durham, the first Black national champion of US gymnastics, dies at 52". CNN. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  8. ^ Graves, Will. "Dianne Durham, the 1st Black woman to win a USA Gymnastics national championship and a Gary native, dies at 52". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  9. ^ Litsky, Frank (March 16, 1984). "GYMNASTS ON MOVE TO SEEK COACHING". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  10. ^ Alfano, Peter (June 3, 1984). "MISS RETTON LEADS GYMNASTICS TEAM". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  11. ^ "Dianne Durham, first black U.S. all-around champion, dies at 52". Gymnastics Now. February 4, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  12. ^ Stevenson (March 25, 2020), Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Suspension, archived from the original on February 10, 2021, retrieved February 9, 2021
  13. ^ "2 Art Gallery Shows to Explore From Home". The New York Times. June 24, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  14. ^ Scottie Andrew and Chris Boyette. "Dianne Durham, the first Black national champion of US gymnastics, dies at 52". CNN. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
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