Heather Regina Oakes (née Hunte born 14 August 1959) is a female English former sprinter who competed mainly in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

. In the 4 × 100m relay, she won

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 ...

bronze medals in

Moscow 1980 The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

and

Los Angeles 1984 The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

. She also won a silver medal in the 60m at the

1985 World Indoor Games The World Indoor Games were arranged by the IAAF and held at the Palais Omnisports Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from January 18 to January 19, 1985. In 1987 the championship was renamed to the IAAF World Indoor Championships and gained official st ...

, and a gold medal in the 100m at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. This was the second Commonwealth Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largely African, Asian and Caribbe ...

Biography

Oakes was born in Hackney, London. She was a member of the Haringey Athletic Club. In 1977, as Heather Hunte, she finished fourth in the 100 m final at the European Junior Championships in

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

, being edged out of a medal by teammate Kathy Smallwood (11.71 - 11.72). She won a bronze medal in the sprint relay. Hunte became the British 100 metres champion after winning 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

1979 WAAA Championships The 1979 WAAA Championships sponsored by Sunsilk, were the national track and field championships for women in the United Kingdom. The event was held at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London, from 27 to 28 July 1979. The marathon ...

. On 21 May 1980, at a meeting at the

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

, she ran the 100 metres in a

wind-assisted In track and field, wind assistance is the benefit that an athlete receives during a race or event as registered by a wind gauge. Wind is one of many forms of weather that can affect sport. Due to a tailwind helping to enhance the speed of the at ...

11.01 secs (+4.0). Later that year she competed for Great Britain at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, where she won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

, with her teammates Smallwood,

Beverley Goddard Beverley Lanita Callender (née Goddard, born 28 August 1956) is a British/Barbadian former track and field sprinter. She competed for Great Britain at the Olympic Games in Montreal 1976, Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984, winning bronze meda ...

and

Sonia Lannaman Sonia May Lannaman (born 24 March 1956) is a British former athlete, who competed mainly in the 100 metres. She won the Commonwealth Games 100 metres title in Edmonton 1978 and won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the ...

. 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 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 ...

in 11.39. In 1983, at the

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 ...

in Helsinki, she reached the semi-finals of the 100 metres, running 11.50. At the

1984 Olympic Games The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an i ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, Oakes reunited with two of her Moscow teammates, Kathy Cook (Smallwood)) and Beverley Callender (Goddard) to win another bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay, they were joined by

Simmone Jacobs Kim Simmone Geraldine Jacobs (born 5 September 1966) is a female retired British athlete who competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres. She represented Great Britain at four Olympic Games (1984–96), winning a bronze medal as a 17-year-old at ...

. In the 100 m final, she finished seventh in 11.43. She had a fine indoor season in 1985, winning medals at both the

World Indoor Games The World Indoor Games were arranged by the IAAF and held at the Palais Omnisports Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from January 18 to January 19, 1985. In 1987 the championship was renamed to the IAAF World Indoor Championships and gained official s ...

and the

European Indoor Championships The European Indoor Championships was a men's tennis tournament played in Berlin, Germany. The event was played as part of the ATP Tour in 1990 and 1991. It was played on indoor carpet court A carpet court is a type of tennis court. The Intern ...

. At the World Indoors in January in Paris, she won a silver medal in 7.21 secs, just one-one hundredth of a second behind the winner

Silke Gladisch Silke may refer to: * Silke (actress) a Spanish actress known by her mononym * Silke (given name) * Silke (surname) * Silke, fictional character Samuel Silke in ''Daredevil'' comics * ''Silke'', novel by Lacey Dancer * ''Silke'', comic series ...

. Then at the Europeans in March, she won the bronze medal behind

Nelli Cooman Cornelli "Nelli" Antoinette Hariëtte Cooman (born 6 June 1964) is a former Dutch athlete of Surinamese origin. At the 60 metres, she is two-time World indoor champion, six-time European indoor champion and former world record holder, running ...

and Marlies Gohr, but ahead of Gladisch. Oakes also regained the 100 metres 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 ...

. Oakes became Commonwealth 100 m champion in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland in 1986. She won in a lifetime best time of 11.20 secs. In an incredibly close race, she edged ahead of teammate

Paula Dunn Paula Dunn , (formerly Thomas, born 3 December 1964) is an English former sprinter who competed in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4 x 100 metres relay. She represented Great Britain in all three events at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. She ...

(11.21) and Canada's Angella Issajenko (also 11.21). Oakes later teamed up with Dunn, Kathy Cook and

Joan Baptiste Joan Jeanetta Baptiste (born 12 October 1959) is a former British sprinter who competed mainly in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4 x 100 metres relay. She won a silver medal at the inaugural World Championships in 1983 in the 4 × 100 m relay a ...

, to win the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the sprint relay. Oakes anchored the England quartet to victory in 43.39. Later in 1986, she reached the semi-finals of both the 100 and 200 metres at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in Stuttgart. In the 200 m, an event that she rarely contested. she ran a lifetime best of 22.92 secs.http://www.todor66.com/athletics/europe/1986/index/html During her career, Oakes won four WAAAs National titles and five UK National titles. As of 2022, her legal 100 m best (11.20) ranks her 18th on the UK all-time list, her 200 m best (22.92) ranks her 30th, while her 60 m best (7.21) ranks her 12th. 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 Gary James Oakes (born 21 September 1958) is a male British retired athlete who mainly competed in the men's 400 metre hurdles. He competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics. Biography Oakes was a member of the Haringey Athletic Club. He finished ...

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 WAAAs (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

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

Linda Haglund Linda Haglund (15 June 1956 – 21 November 2015) was a Swedish Olympic sprinter. Running career Haglund became a member of Hanvikens SK, a track and field club located just south of Stockholm, at the age of 13. She showed great promise as a ...

(SWE),
Chantal Rega (FRA) and

Annegret Richter Annegret Richter (born 13 October 1950) is a German (former West German) athlete and the 1976 Olympic 100 m champion. Biography Born Annegret Irrgang, she won her first international title at the 1971 European Championships, as a part of ...

(FRG).

References

External links

*
1980 British relay team, 5 March 2006
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oakes, Heather 1959 births Living people Athletes from the London Borough of Hackney English female sprinters British female sprinters Black British sportswomen Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics English Olympic competitors Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic female sprinters Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games 20th-century English sportswomen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics