Heather Regina Oakes (née Hunte born 14 August 1959) is a female

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

former sprinter who competed mainly in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

. In the 4 × 100m relay, she won

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

bronze medals in

Moscow 1980 The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

and Los Angeles 1984. She also won a silver medal in the 60m at the 1985 World Indoor Games, and a gold medal in the 100m at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

Career

Oakes was born in Hackney, London. She was a member of the Haringey Athletic Club. In 1977, as Heather Hunte, she finished fourth in the 100 m final at the European Junior Championships in

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...

, being edged out of a medal by teammate Kathy Smallwood (11.71 - 11.72). She won a bronze medal in the sprint relay. On 21 May 1980, at a meeting at the

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, she ran the 100 metres in a

wind-assisted In track and field, wind assistance is the benefit that an athlete receives during a race or event as registered by a wind gauge. Wind is one of many forms of weather that can affect sport. Due to a tailwind helping to enhance the speed of the at ...

11.01 secs (+4.0). Later that year she competed for Great Britain at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, where she won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

in the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individu ...

, with her teammates Smallwood, Beverley Goddard and

Sonia Lannaman Sonia May Lannaman (born 24 March 1956) is a British former athlete, who competed mainly in the 100 metres. She won the Commonwealth Games 100 metres title in Edmonton 1978 and won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1 ...

. They ran a UK record of 42.43, which stood as the UK record until 2014. She also placed eighth in the 100 m final in 11.34 secs. In 1982, now competing as Heather Oakes, she finished seventh in the 100 metres final at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

in 11.39. In 1983, at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Helsinki, she reached the semi-finals of the 100 metres, running 11.50. At the 1984 Olympic Games in

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, Oakes reunited with two of her Moscow teammates, Kathy Cook (Smallwood)) and Beverley Callender (Goddard) to win another bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay, they were joined by Simmone Jacobs. In the 100 m final, she finished seventh in 11.43. She had a fine indoor season in 1985, winning medals at both the

World Indoor Games The World Indoor Games were arranged by the IAAF and held at the Palais Omnisports Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from January 18 to January 19, 1985. In 1987 the championship was renamed to the IAAF World Indoor Championships The World Athlet ...

and the European Indoor Championships. At the World Indoors in January in Paris, she won a silver medal in 7.21 secs, just one-one hundredth of a second behind the winner

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. Then at the Europeans in March, she won the bronze medal behind

Nelli Cooman Cornelli "Nelli" Antoinette Hariëtte Cooman (born 6 June 1964) is a former Dutch athlete of Surinamese origin. At the 60 metres, she is two-time World indoor champion, six-time European indoor champion and former world record holder, running ...

and

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, but ahead of Gladisch. Oakes became Commonwealth 100 m champion in

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in 1986. She won in a lifetime best time of 11.20 secs. In an incredibly close race, she edged ahead of teammate

Paula Dunn Paula Dunn , (formerly Thomas, born 3 December 1964) is an English former sprinter who competed in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4 x 100 metres relay. She represented Great Britain in all three events at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. She is ...

(11.21) and

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Angella Issajenko Angella Taylor-Issajenko, CM ( née Taylor; born September 28, 1958) is a Canadian coach and former sprinter. She won an Olympic silver medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay in Los Angeles 1984. At the Commonwealth Games she won seven medals, incl ...

(also 11.21). Oakes later teamed up with Dunn, Kathy Cook and Joan Baptiste, to win the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the sprint relay. Oakes anchored the England quartet to victory in 43.39. Later in 1986, she reached the semi-finals of both the 100 and 200 metres at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

in Stuttgart. In the 200 m, an event that she rarely contested. she ran a lifetime best of 22.92 secs.http://www.todor66.com/athletics/europe/1986/index/html During her career, Oakes won four AAAs National titles and five UK National titles. As of 2022, her legal 100 m best (11.20) ranks her 18th on the UK all-time list, her 200 m best (22.92) ranks her 30th, while her 60 m best (7.21) ranks her 12th. While Oakes competed at the highest level for her country, she also held down a full-time job. This is in contrast to today's athletes, who through lottery funding and sponsorship are able to train and compete without distraction. She is married to fellow Olympic bronze medallist Gary Oakes.

Personal bests

*60 m 7.21 Paris (Bercy) 19/01/1985 *100 m 11.20 Beijing, CHN 20/09/1980 - ran 11.01 wind-assisted (+4.0) London 21/05/1980 *200 m 22.92 Stuttgart, GER 28/08/1986 *4 × 100 m relay 42.43 Moscow, RUS 1/08/80 UK Record

National titles

* 2-time AAAs (of England) National 100 m champion 1979, 1985 (2nd in 78, 83, 86, 3rd in 80, 82 ) * 2-time AAAs National Indoor 60 m champion 1978, 1985 * 5-times UK National champion 1979 (100), 1980 (100), 1982 (100), 1984 (100 & 200 m) (2nd at 200 in 1980)

International competitions

Note: Won the 1979 World Cup sprint relay representing Europe. Ran the anchor leg. The other team members were

Linda Haglund Linda Haglund (15 June 1956 – 21 November 2015) was a Swedish Olympic Sprint (running), sprinter. Running career Haglund became a member of Hanvikens SK, a track and field club located just south of Stockholm, at the age of 13. She showed gr ...

(SWE),
Chantal Rega (FRA) and

Annegret Richter Annegret Richter (born 13 October 1950) is a German (former West German) athlete and the 1976 Olympic 100 m champion. Biography Born Annegret Irrgang, she won her first international title at the 1971 European Championships, as a part of ...

(FRG).

References

External links

*
1980 British relay team, 5 March 2006
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oakes, Heather 1959 births Living people Sportspeople from Hackney Central Athletes from London English female sprinters Black British sportswomen Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics English Olympic medallists Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic female sprinters Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games