Paula Dunn

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For the British Olympic gymnast, see Paula Thomas (gymnast).

Paula Dunn
Personal information
NationalityEnglish
Born (1964-12-03) 3 December 1964 (age 59)
Bradford, West Yorkshire
Sport
SportAthletics
Medal record
athletics
Representing  Great Britain
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1990 Split 4x100 m relay
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 1986 Edinburgh 4x100 m relay
Silver medal – second place 1986 Edinburgh 100 metres
Silver medal – second place 1990 Auckland 4x100 m relay
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Victoria 100 metres
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Victoria 4x100 m relay

Paula Dunn

4 x 100 metres relay. She represented Great Britain in all three events at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. She is a five-time Commonwealth Games medallist, including winning silver (1986) and bronze (1994) 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.[1]

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

Angella Issajenko and Angela Bailey. She then teamed up with Oakes, Kathy Cook and Joan Baptiste to win gold in the 4x100 metres relay. Later that year she placed seventh in the 100 metres final at the European Championships
in Stuttgart.

In 1987, Dunn competed at the

Silke Moller respectively. Also in 1989, she won her fourth consecutive AAAs 100 metres title.[3]
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. 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 European Championships 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, but was forced to withdraw due to illness.[4] 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.[5][6]

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 for services to Athletics.[7]

International competitions

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Great Britain /  England
1986 Commonwealth Games Edinburgh, United Kingdom 2nd 100 m 11.21
1st 4 × 100 m 43.39
European Championships
Stuttgart, West Germany
 7th 100 m 11.25 (wind: +0.8 m/s)
5th 4 × 100 m 43.44
1987 European Indoor Championships
Lievin
, France 		6th 60 m 7.28
World Championships
Rome, Italy
 16th (sf) 100 m
11.59
10th (h) 4 × 100 m
44.21
1988 Olympic Games
Seoul, South Korea
 22nd (qf) 100 m
11.37
14th (sf) 200 m
23.14
9th (sf) 4 × 100 m
43.50
1989 European Indoor Championships
The Hague, Netherlands
 4th 60 m 7.24
European Cup
Gateshead
, United Kingdom 		2nd 100 m 11.24
2nd 200 m 23.45
4th 4 × 100 m
1990 Commonwealth Games
Auckland, New Zealand
 8th 100 m 11.55
5th 200 m 23.33
2nd 4 × 100 m 44.15
European Indoor Championships
Glasgow
, United Kingdom 		7th (sf) 60 m 7.30
European Championships
Split, Yugoslavia
 10th (sf) 100 m 11.57 (wind: 0.0 m/s)
3rd 4 × 100 m 43.32
1991 World Championships
Tokyo, Japan
 19th (qf) 100 m
11.51
heats 4 × 100 m
43.43
1993 World Championships Stuttgart, Germany 8th 4 × 100 m
43.86
1994 European Cup
Birmingham
, United Kingdom 		2nd 4 × 100 m 43.46
European Championships
Helsinki, Finland
 10th (sf) 100 m 11.58 (wind: +0.6 m/s)
11th (sf) 200 m 23.41 (wind: +1.4 m/s)
5th 4 × 100 m 43.63
Commonwealth Games
Victoria, Canada
 3rd 100 m 11.23
4th 200 m 22.69
3rd 4 × 100 m 43.46
World Cup London, United Kingdom 7th 100 m 11.67
6th 200 m 23.22
8th 4 × 100 m 44.45
1995 World Championships
Gothenburg, Sweden
 15th (qf) 100 m
11.33
15th (sf) 200 m
23.03
9th (h) 4 × 100 m
43.90
(#) indicates overall position in qualifying heats (h) quarterfinals (qf) or semifinals (sf)

References

  1. ^ http://www.gbrathletics.com/uk/wa99/html[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "UK Championships".
  3. ^ "AAA Championships (Women)".
  4. ^ The Independent: Athletics: British sprinter collapses. 28 June 1996
  5. ^ BBC Sport: Paralympics: Paula Dunn named new athletics head coach. 21 November 2012
  6. ^ BBC Sport: Paula Dunn to lead British Paralympians at Rio 2016. 21 November 2012
  7. ^ "ParalympicsGB | Dunn, matthews and warner named in new year's honours list". ParalympicsGB. Retrieved 2 January 2019.

External links

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