Heather Oakes

Heather Oakes

Personal information
Born	(1959-08-14) 14 August 1959 (age 64) London, England
Medal record Women’s Athletics Representing  Great Britain Olympic Games 1980 Moscow 4 × 100 m relay 1984 Los Angeles 4 × 100 m relay World Indoor Games 1985 Paris 60 m Representing  England Commonwealth Games 1986 Edinburgh 100 m 1986 Edinburgh 4 × 100 m relay Representing Europe World Cup 1979 Montreal 4 × 100 m relay

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

On 21 May 1980, at a meeting at the Crystal Palace, she ran the 100 metres in a wind-assisted 11.01 secs (+4.0).^[1] Later that year she competed for Great Britain at the Olympic Games in Moscow, where she won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay, with her teammates Smallwood, Beverley Goddard and Sonia Lannaman. 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 in 11.39. In 1983, at the World Championships in Helsinki, she reached the semi-finals of the 100 metres, running 11.50.

At the

Oakes became

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

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing|  England
1982	Commonwealth Games	Brisbane, Australia	7th	100 m	11.39w
1986	Commonwealth Games	Edinburgh, Scotland	1st	100 m	11.20w
			1st	4 × 100 m	43.39
Representing  Great Britain
1977	European Junior Championships	Donetsk, Soviet Union	4th	100 m	11.72
			3rd	4 × 100 m	44.71
1979	European Cup	Turin, Italy	4th	100 m	11.30
			3rd	4 × 100 m	43.18
	World Cup	Montreal, Canada	1st	4 × 100 m	42.19
1980	Olympic Games	Moscow, Russia	8th	100 m	11.34
			3rd	4 × 100 m	42.43
1983	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	semi-final	100 m	11.50
1984	Olympic Games	Los Angeles, United States	7th	100 m	11.43
			3rd	4 × 100 m	43.11
1985	World Indoor Games	Paris, France	2nd	60 m	7.21
	European Indoor Championships	Piraeus, Greece	3rd	60 m	7.22
	European Cup	Moscow, Russia	6th	100 m	11.33
			4th	4 × 100 m	43.35
1986	European Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	semi-final	100 m	11.29
			semi-final	200 m	22.92

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

External links

• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Heather Hunte-Oakes". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
• 1980 British relay team, 5 March 2006, The Guardian.