Glynis Leanne Nunn OAM (née Saunders; born 4 December 1960) is a former Australian

heptathlete A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

, the first

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

champion in the event.

Biography

Born in

Toowoomba, Queensland Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

, she began competing in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

at age 9, when she was a student at

Toowoomba South State School Toowoomba South State School is a heritage-listed former school at 158 James Street, South Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Department of Public Works (Queensland). It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 2 Dec ...

. She starred in several events, and was thus a natural competitor in the

pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek language, Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) (). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Anci ...

(which was replaced by the heptathlon in 1981). In 1978, she qualified for the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

, but could not compete because of an injury. By the time of the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the ...

held in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, she had married decathlete

Chris Nunn Christopher John Nunn, Order of Australia, OAM (born 18 December 1958) is an Australian athletics coach. He was the head coach of the Australian athletics team at the 2000 Summer Paralympics, 2000 Sydney Paralympics. Personal life He was born ...

, and that year the couple moved to

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

where Chris was studying for a physical education degree at the South Australian College of Advanced Education. In the first heptathlon competition at the Games, she upset the English favourite and took the title. At the inaugural

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

a year later, she was placed 7th. Because of the

1984 Summer Olympics boycott The boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles followed four years after the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The boycott involved nineteen countries: fifteen from the Eastern Bloc led by the Soviet Union, w ...

, Nunn was one of the medal candidates for the Olympic title, too. The competition was incredibly close, with five athletes fighting for the medals. After the competition, there was confusion about who had won, but when the smoke cleared, Nunn had scored 6390 points, five more than runner-up

Jackie Joyner-Kersee Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee (born March 3, 1962) is an American former track and field athlete who competed in both the heptathlon and long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals at four different Olympic Games. Joyne ...

. In addition to her gold medal, Nunn was also placed fifth in the 100 m hurdles event, and seventh in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. After the Olympics, Nunn abandoned the heptathlon, and switched to hurdling. Nunn won the British

WAAA Championships The WAAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Women's Amateur Athletic Association (WAAA) in England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event for women during its lifetime. Since 1880, the Amateur Athl ...

title at the

1985 WAAA Championships The 1985 WAAA Championships sponsored by the Trustee Savings Bank, were the national track and field championships for women in the United Kingdom. The event was held at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham for the first time since switching from ...

. She was hampered by many injuries, but won a bronze medal in the high hurdles event at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. She quit sports in 1990.

Recognition

In 1985, Nunn received a Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

and was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

. She received an

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

in 2000.

References

External links