Dianne Durham, first Black national gymnastics champion, dies at 52

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Dianne Durham, the first Black woman to win a USA Gymnastics national championship, died Thursday Feb. 4th in Chicago following a short illness, her husband said. She was 52.

About Dianne Durham

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.

Durham was a teammate of Mary Lou Retton’s under coaches Béla and Martha Károlyi, on track for a spot on the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team. However, an injury forced her to miss the 1983 world championships and she placed outside the top four at the U.S. Olympic trials after an ankle injury.

Durham then stepped away from gymnastics competition, while Retton went on to lead the U.S. team to a gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games.

According to USA Gymnastics, Durham relocated to Chicago, went on to judge and coach gymnastics and for several years owned and operated Skyline Gymnastics. In 2017, she was inducted into the Region 5 Hall of Fame.

Durham told ESPN in an interview last year said she did not think of her 1983 victory as having a monumental impact on the sport.

“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?” she said. “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.”

Her legacy

Durham is survived by her husband and sister; her father, Ural Durham; niece, Allison Woods; and nephew, Mike Woods Jr.

A celebration of life is being planned in her hometown of Gary, Indiana, later in the year.