Paula Dunn , (formerly Thomas, born 3 December 1964) is an English former sprinter who competed 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 ...

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

and

4 x 100 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

. She represented Great Britain in all three events at the

1988 Olympic Games 1988 Olympics refers to both: *The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *The 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul ...

in Seoul. She is a five-time Commonwealth Games medallist, including winning silver (

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

) and bronze (

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

) in the 100 metres. During the 1990s, she competed as Paula Thomas (her then married name). Her personal bests of 11.15 secs in the 100 metres and 22.69 secs in the 200 metres, were the fastest times run by a British female sprinter during the 1990s.

Career

Born Paula Dunn in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, she was a member of the Trafford Athletics Club (formerly Stretford). She finished sixth in the 100 metres at the 1985 AAA Championships, before making rapid progress in 1986, improving her 100 m PB from 11.67 to 11.25 secs (she also ran a wind-assisted 11.14), winning both the AAAs and UK National 100 metres titles. At that year's Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, she won a silver medal in the 100 metres, just one one-hundredth of a second behind the winner Heather Oakes but ahead of the Canadian Olympic finalists

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, inclu ...

and Angela Bailey. She then teamed up with Oakes, Kathy Cook and

Joan Baptiste Joan Jeanetta Baptiste (born 12 October 1959) is a former British sprinter who competed mainly in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4 x 100 metres relay. She won a silver medal at the inaugural World Championships in 1983 in the 4 × 100 ...

to win gold in the 4x100 metres relay. Later that year she placed seventh in the 100 metres final 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 1987, Dunn competed at the World Championships in Rome, reaching the semi-finals in the 100 metres. At the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, she reached the semi-finals of the 200 metres, and also competed in the 100 metres and 4x100 metres relay. She placed fourth in the 60 metres final at the 1989 European Indoor Championships, before going on to finish second at both 100 & 200 metres at the 1989 European Cup in Gateshead, finishing behind the East Germans

Katrin Krabbe Katrin Krabbe (; later Zimmermann, born 22 November 1969) is a German former track and field athlete. She represented East Germany (GDR) at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and went on to win the 100 metres and 200 metres titles at the 1991 World Cha ...

and

Silke Moller Silke may refer to: * Silke (actress) a Spanish actress known by her mononym * Silke (given name) * Silke (surname) * Silke, fictional character Samuel Silke in ''Daredevil'' comics * ''Silke'', novel by Lacey Dancer * ''Silke'', comic series publi ...

respectively. Also in 1989, she won her fourth consecutive AAAs 100 metres title. Between August 1986 and January 1990, Dunn was unbeaten at 100 metres by another British woman. In January 1990, she won relay silver at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland, with Stephanie Douglas, Jennifer Stoute and

Simmone Jacobs Kim Simmone Geraldine Jacobs (born 5 September 1966) is a female retired British athlete who competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres. She represented Great Britain at four Olympic Games (1988–96), winning a bronze medal as a 17-year-old at t ...

. In the summer, competing under her then married name of Paula Thomas (she would be known by this name for the remainder of her athletic career before reverting to Dunn) she won a relay bronze medal at the

in Split, along with Douglas Bev Kinch and Jacobs. She competed at the 1991 and 1993 World Championships. In 1992, she had missed the entire year due to pregnancy. Dunn reached her peak in 1994, achieving her lifetime bests at that years Commonwealth Games in Victoria. In the 100 metres she won a bronze medal in 11.23 secs, having run her pb of 11.15 secs in the semi-finals. In the 200 metres, she narrowly missed a medal running another lifetime best of 22.69 secs. These times would remain the best sprint times of the decade by a British woman. She added another bronze in the sprint relay. In 1995, she competed at her fourth World Championships in Gothenburg, reaching the semi-finals in the 200 metres. She earned selection for the

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, but was forced to withdraw due to illness. As of 2019, Dunn ranks 10th on the UK all-time list at 100 metres and 12th at 200 metres.

Later career

Dunn began working for UK Athletics in 2001 and was appointed Paralympic performance manager in 2009. After London 2012, she was promoted to the position of Paralympic head coach, replacing Peter Eriksson. She is the first female head coach appointed by UK Athletics.

National titles

*6 Times AAAs National Champion – 100 metres (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1995) 200 metres (1989) *5 Times UK National Champion – 100 metres (1986, 1987, 1988) 200 metres (1987, 1988) *2 Time AAAs Indoor Champion – 60 metres (1987, 1988)

Honours and awards

Dunn was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to Athletics.

International competitions

References

External links

*
UK All-Time Lists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Paula 1964 births Living people Sportspeople from Bradford English female sprinters Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics European Athletics Championships medalists Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain Black British sportswomen Members of the Order of the British Empire Olympic female sprinters Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games