Gary gymnast Durham vaulted through barriers
She is remembered as coach, mentor with big heart: ‘Dianne was about life and living life to its fullest’
An ankle injury derailed Gary gymnast Dianne Durham’s Olympic dreams in 1984, but she stuck the landing as a coach, mentor and inspiration for the young Black gymnasts who followed her trailblazing path.
Tributes from gymnasts, family and friends poured in Saturday during a celebration of Durham’s life at the West Side Leadership Academy emceed by radio broadcaster Felicia Middlebrooks who attended church with the Durhams and once babysat for the family.
Durham died Feb. 4 in Chicago after a brief illness at age 52. The family delayed the memorial because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Durham, who grew up across the street from West Side, seemed destined to lead the U.S. team in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles after becoming the first Black gymnast to capture the U.S. National championship in 1983 at age 15. She beat out Houston training partner Mary Lou Retton.
Despite the ensuing pressure, Durham was on track to become the first Black to win a gold medal in gymnastics, a sport she embraced at age 3 when her parents witnessed her bouncing and tumbling around their house.
Instead, the 1984 all-around gold medal went to Retton, and Durham stayed home feeling she disappointed her supporters.
During the 1984 Olympic trials, she landed painfully and suffered a nasty ankle sprain. She still scored a 9.1 and remained an Olympic team contender, but the injury hobbled her and she withdrew, less than a point shy of the final spot on the team.
Her coach, Bela Karolyi, criticized the selection process slight. It still haunts him.
In a letter read during the memorial, Karolyi said he’s saddened “by the rigidity of the process which made her unable to make the Olympic team.”
It all began for Durham after parents Calvinita and Ural Durham took her to a local gymnastics school run by the late Wanda Tomasi-Mohoi, who became Durham’s first coach and fiercest supporter.
“When Dianne came into our lives at my mom’s first studio in Gary, we saw boundless energy, and a giggle. She bounced all over
the place,” said Tammy Tomasi-Wyatt. “We had never seen such natural, awe-inspiring talent.”
When she was 13, Durham’s parents sent her to Houston to train with Bela and Martha Karolyi who defected from Romania in 1981. Durham became the first elite gymnast at the school and was soon joined by Retton.
Calvinita Durham, who died in 1995, took leave from her teaching job to live in Houston with her daughter.
Success followed, only to culminate in the heartbreaking injury right before the Olympics.
Durham retired from gymnastics in 1985 and worked for Karolyi’s school as a coach. Later, she choreographed gymnastic and dance routines and performed in the closing ceremony at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
She returned home and ran Skyline Gymnastics in Chicago from 1992 to 2013. In 1994, she married Tom Drahozal, a school administrator, who also coached basketball.
Primarily through the efforts of Durham’s 1984 team members, she was posthumously inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in June.
“She had such strength, such good lines and beauty. Her presentation of the sport was amazing. She was fearless,” said Tracee Talavera, an Olympic medalist who competed with Durham.
Talavera, who’s been critical of the team selection process, and other 1984 Olympic team members lobbied for Durham’s inclusion into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.
“Gymnastics is often lacking in truthfulness, Dianne was truthful.”
That’s what young gymnast Kimberly Randall found out a few decades later when Durham became her coach.
“She didn’t want to take me on, but my mom begged her … We had a love-hate relationship.”
Randall feared the balance beam and Durham hammered away until she mastered it.
“She’s my warrior, my coach, my friend,” said Randall who displayed a small tattoo on her with Olympic rings and a “D” in honor of Durham.
Via video, Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Bart Conner, Nadia Comaneci, Betty Okino and USA Gymnastics president Li Li Leung offered tributes.
In a statement, Retton called Durham “my partner in crime,” and recalled the fun times the young teens escaped from Karolyi’s scrutiny.
“She would not be happy to see us cry. Dianne was about life and living life to its fullest.”
Durham’s husband, Drahozal, and sister, Alice Durham Woods, accepted an honorary award from West Side Principal Brandi Herrod.
“My sister was a trailblazer, glass ceiling breaker who vaulted through the air with the greatest of ease. But to me, she was my little sister,” said Durham Woods.
Drahozal said his wife’s one regret was not being able to graduate from West Side. “She told everyone she was from Gary,” he said.
“She opened the door so Gabby Douglas could walk through it and Simone Biles could fly through it. She showed the world a little girl from Gary, Indiana, was the best gymnast in the U.S. in 1983 and gave hope to thousands of Black gymnasts.
“She did matter. She is my champion and I’ll miss her forever.”