Desiré du Plessis (born 20 May 1965) is a South African former

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who competed in the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

. Her personal best is , putting her in the all-time top thirty for the event. It was a South African record until it was beaten by Hestrie Cloete. Her best mark indoors was , set in 1987. She ranked second in the world in the 1986 season. Du Plessis won two major medals in her career, both at the

African Championships in Athletics The African Championships in Athletics is a continental athletics event organized by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), the continental association for the sport in Africa. Since its inaugural edition in 1979 it was at first organis ...

, taking bronze in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

. Compatriot

Charmaine Weavers Charmaine Gale-Weavers (born 27 February 1964) is a South African retired athlete who specialised in the high jump. She represented her country at the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1993 World Championships in Athletics, 1993 World Championships. In ad ...

and Ivorian Lucienne N'Da were ahead of her each time. She also represented South Africa at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, between 18 and 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, box ...

, taking ninth with a jump of . She won five straight national titles at the South African Athletics Championships between 1983 and 1987, becoming the first woman to clear two metres there in the process. She won two further titles in 1993 and 1995.South African Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-05-29.

International competitions

National titles

* South African Athletics Championships **High jump: 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1995

References

External links

* __NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Plessis, Desire du Living people 1965 births South African female high jumpers Commonwealth Games athletes for South Africa Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Place of birth missing (living people)