Dianne Patrice Durham

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 also won the individual titles for bars, floor and vault, becoming the first American woman to execute a full-twisting layout Tsukahara on vault.

Durham was born in Gary, Indiana. She started gymnastics in 1971 at the age of 3 and trained at Wanda Tomasi’s gymnastics facility in Merrillville, Indiana.

In 1981, after winning the junior elite all-around title at the US National Championships, she moved to Houston, Texas. She was coached by Béla and Márta Károlyi. They had defected from Romania in 1981 and though they had trained the star of the 1976 Olympic gymnastics competition, Nadia Comaneci, they faced their doubts about whether they could succeed outside Romania's state-supported program.

Durham 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".

Durham successfully defended her junior national all-around title in 1982, 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.

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.

"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. "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."

For Durham, that win, although hard-fought, was simply one step on her path toward the Olympics. After injuries and politics prevented her from competing in the 1984 Summer Olympics, Durham retired from competition in 1985.

Prior to her ankle injury at 1984 Olympic Trials, Durham was considered a sure bet for the seven-person team, with her and training partner Mary Lou Retton expected to be a powerful duo for the U.S. at those Los Angeles Games. Durham would’ve been a medal contender – potentially the first black Olympic gymnastics medalist ever. (Luci Collins was the first black gymnast to qualify to the U.S. women’s Olympic team in 1980, but the U.S. boycotted those games.)

Durham took a job coaching with the Karolyis in Houston before eventually relocating to Chicago. She became a gym owner of the Skyline Gymnastics school in Chicago. She also became a national-level judge and a coach.

Unfortunately, Durham passed away on February 4, 2021 at the age of 52 after a short illness.

USA Gymnastics CEO & president Li Li Leung said the organization is “heartbroken.”

“As an icon and trailblazer in our sport, Dianne opened doors for generations of gymnasts who came after her, and her legacy carries on each day in gyms across the country,” Leung said in a statement.