Lorraine Dunn
Personal information | |
---|---|
Birth name | Lorraine Fay Dunn |
Nationality | Panamanian |
Born | Panama City, Panama | 12 September 1942
Died | 16 October 2003 Glen Burnie, Maryland, United States | (aged 61)
Sport | |
Sport | Athletics |
Event(s) | Sprinting, hurdling |
Club | TSU Tigerbelles, Nashville |
Medal record |
Lorraine Dunn (later Davis, 12 September 1942 – 16 October 2003) was a Panamanian sprinter and hurdler. She competed in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics and the 1964 Summer Olympics as well as the 80 metres hurdles in 1964. Dunn finished third in the 200 metres with a time of 24.7 seconds and finished fourth in the 80 metres hurdles at the 1963 Pan American Games.[1] Dunn's international breakthrough came when she won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1959 Central American and Caribbean Games as a 16-year old. She also won a silver medal in the 80 metres hurdles and a bronze in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1962 Central American and Caribbean Games.
Early life[]
Dunn was born in Panama City into a family of accomplished athletes. Her father was a competitive weightlifter before becoming an accountant for the Panama Canal, and her aunt Josephine Lewis Sampson held many of the country's records in hurdles (these records were in turn later broken by Dunn).[2]
In 1960, Dunn, along with her relay teammates Silvia Hunte, Carlota Gooden and Jean Holmes-Mitchell, were the first female athletes to represent Panama at the Olympics.[3] They set a Panamanian 4 x 100 metres women's relay record of 46.66 seconds that was not equalled until 2013.
After she graduated from high school in 1961, Wilma Rudolph's coach, the legendary Ed Temple, offered her a track scholarship to train under him at Tennessee State University. She competed for the powerhouse TSU Tigerbelles and graduated from Tennessee State with honours in 1965.[2] The Tigerbelles dominated US women's track and field during this era. In fact, from 1960 to 1968 they did not lose an AAU National Championship and won nearly every single competitive team meet they participated in during those years.[4]
In February 1964, Dunn, along with Wyomia Tyus, Vivian Brown and Edith McGuire, was on the Tigerbelles relay team that set an indoor world record of 47.5 seconds in the 440 yard relay at the Mason-Dixon Games at Freedom Hall, Louisville. Previously, TSU held the old world mark of 48.3 seconds.[5]
Olympics and beyond[]
At the opening ceremony of the 1964 Summer Olympics, Dunn served as the Panamanian flag bearer.[6]
In her final year at TSU, Dunn was a member of the women's track and field team that won the AAU National Indoor Championships at Madison Square Garden, New York City. Dunn, Tyus, McGuire and Essie Crews made up the 640 yard relay team which won the event in a time of 1:11.7 after running a heat in a record-breaking 1:11.5.[7]
After retiring from competitive athletics, Dunn settled in Peoria, Illinois and worked as an accountant for Caterpillar and Pabst Brewing Company.[2]
In 1974, she briefly coached the University of Kansas women’s cross-country and track teams.[8]
Soon after, she moved to Fairfax County, Virginia and worked as an accountant for the National Bar Association. She was a member of the Northern Virginia chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta service sorority and past president of its educational and community service foundation. Dunn was past treasurer of both the Fairfax County Committee of 100 and the Fairfax County-wide PTA; a member of the Williamsburg Manor Civic Association; the Urban League; the NAACP; the Northern Virginia League of Women Voters; and St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Alexandria.[2][6]
On 13 January 2000, in a statement which appeared in the newspaper El Siglo, the then-President of Panama, Mireya Moscoso, expressed her sincere appreciation to all Panamanian athletes who throughout the 20th century gave all of their effort to honour the country, nationally and internationally. Lorraine Dunn was among those athletes mentioned by name, along with the likes of Roberto Durán, Rod Carew and Lloyd LaBeach.[6]
Dunn died of a heart attack in 2003. Survivors include her husband, John Davis of Alexandria; a daughter, Aisha Davis of Washington; a son, Kiilu Davis of Scottsdale; a sister, Lydia Harris; and two grandsons and a granddaughter. She was preceded in death by her youngest sister, Raquel Octavia Dunn.[2][6]
References[]
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Lorraine Dunn Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Louie Estrada (24 October 2003). "Lorraine Davis". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
- ^ Yelina Pérez (4 August 2016). "Mujeres panameñas en los Juegos Olímpicos". mia.com.pa. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
- ^ Salisbury, Tracey. (2009) https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/Salisbury_uncg_0154D_10304.pdf First to the Finish Line: The Tennessee State Tigerbelles 1944‐1994. p. 140
- ^ "2 Tigerbelles Top World Dash Mark", Nashville Tennessean, 16 February 1964 p.48
- ^ a b c d "Lorraine Dunn Davis". wordpress.com. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
- ^ "Tyus Paces Women's Win", Nashville Tennessean, 21 February 1965 p.56
- ^ "Another Milestone", Chicago Tribune, 5 February 1975 p.55
External links[]
- Lorraine Dunn at Olympedia
- 1942 births
- 2003 deaths
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics
- Panamanian female sprinters
- Panamanian female hurdlers
- Olympic athletes of Panama
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1959 Pan American Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1963 Pan American Games
- Pan American Games bronze medalists for Panama
- Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Competitors at the 1959 Central American and Caribbean Games
- Competitors at the 1962 Central American and Caribbean Games
- Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Panama
- Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for Panama
- Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Panama
- Sportspeople from Panama City
- Tennessee State Lady Tigers track and field athletes
- Panamanian emigrants to the United States
- Panamanian Roman Catholics
- African-American Catholics
- Kansas Jayhawks track and field coaches
- Kansas Jayhawks cross country coaches
- Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics
- National Bar Association
- Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games
- 20th-century African-American women
- 20th-century African-American people