Raising The Bar
ianne Durham had a talent for stunts and tumbling at a very young age. Being raised by a schoolteacher and a director of a steel-mill company, she was put in gymnastics classes early on to keep from damaging household items.
What started out as a fun activity and outlet for rambunctious kids, turned into a passion and desire for more competitive training. Being from Gary, Indiana, Durham’s family had to drive her 60 miles away to a facility better equipped for her talent. This is where she began training under Bela Karolyi in 1982.
The Karolyi’s had not yet made their mark on gymnastics in the U.S. at that point but they had trained incredible athletes including champions like Nadia Comăneci before they sought out for America. Dianne had an undeniable talent that was recognized before she turned thirteen and she eventually, under Karolyi’s training, became one of the few major black gymnasts in the world.
Together they made history in the 1983 U.S. National Championships, Durham won gold medals in the vaults, balance beam and floor categories cementing herself in gymnastics history. She became the first black gymnast to make the national team and the first to become a national champion. Her focus was set on the Olympics the following year, however, and she had intended to train for the competition like no other.
While preparing for the Olympic games, Durham suffered an onslaught of injuries. After she competed a vault in the trials, Dianne tore a ligament in her ankle and soon after withdrew from competing.
Her teammates and coaches during the 1984 Olympic season felt the impact of her absence, stating multiple times that they wished she could have been a part of the team.
Mary Lou Retton, her teammate during the trials, told the Tribune in ‘04, “Dianne was one of the greatest athletes and the best gymnast of our generation. She had it all: personality, strength, grace. When we trained together, seven or eight hours a day, we really became like sisters. She was always my best and fiercest competitor.”
Dianne spoke to the Tribune in 2004: “I don’t feel sorry for myself. Nobody is going to give you anything in this life. You have to work for anything and everything you get. And
sometimes it doesn’t go the way you want it to go. You fall, but you have to get back up . . . I am happy.”
Dianne Durham, despite her hardships, went on to have a successful career as a coach and owner of her own gym, Skyline Gymnastics, for 17 years. She made sure to incorporate the sport that changed not only her life, but so many other girls who looked up to her, in her years post being an Olympic gymnast.
Dianne Durham passed away at the age of 52 in February 2021, after a brief illness.
While her successful career was short-lived, her impact on the sport continued to be felt for many years as generations of young girls flooded into the sport and gained success. Her being the first black gymnast to win a U.S. National Championship was groundbreaking and paved the way for more greats like Dominique Dawes, Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles.
