Paula Dunn facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Paula Dunn

Personal information
Nationality	British (English)
Born	(1964-12-03) 3 December 1964 (age 60) Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Sprints
Club	Stretford AC
Medal record athletics Representing  Great Britain European Championships Bronze 1990 Split 4x100 m relay Representing  England Commonwealth Games Gold 1986 Edinburgh 4x100 m relay Silver 1986 Edinburgh 100 metres Silver 1990 Auckland 4x100 m relay Bronze 1994 Victoria 100 metres Bronze 1994 Victoria 4x100 m relay

Paula Dunn is a famous English sprinter. She was born on December 3, 1964. Paula competed in sprint races like the 100 metres, 200 metres, and the 4 x 100 metres relay.

She proudly represented Great Britain at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. Paula won five medals at the Commonwealth Games. These included a silver medal in the 100 metres in 1986 and a bronze in 1994. During the 1990s, she was known as Paula Thomas, which was her married name at the time. Her fastest times were 11.15 seconds for the 100 metres and 22.69 seconds for the 200 metres. These were the best times for a British female sprinter in the 1990s.

Paula's Early Career and Success

Paula Dunn was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. She was a member of the Trafford Athletics Club. In 1986, Paula made huge progress in her running. She improved her 100 metres time from 11.67 seconds to 11.25 seconds. She also won both the 1986 WAAA Championships and UK National 100 metres titles that year.

Commonwealth Games Medals

At the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Paula won a silver medal in the 100 metres. She was just a tiny bit behind the winner, Heather Oakes. After that, she joined Heather Oakes, Kathy Cook, and Joan Baptiste to win a gold medal in the 4x100 metres relay race. Later in 1986, she finished seventh in the 100 metres final at the European Championships.

Competing on the World Stage

In 1987, Paula competed at the World Championships in Rome. She reached the semi-finals in the 100 metres. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, she made it to the semi-finals of the 200 metres. She also ran in the 100 metres and the 4x100 metres relay.

In 1989, Paula finished fourth in the 60 metres final at the European Indoor Championships. She also came second in both the 100 and 200 metres at the European Cup. She won her fourth straight AAAs 100 metres title in 1989. From August 1986 to January 1990, Paula was the fastest British woman in the 100 metres.

Later Career and Achievements

In January 1990, Paula won a silver medal in the relay at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland. She ran with Stephanie Douglas, Jennifer Stoute, and Simmone Jacobs. That summer, competing as Paula Thomas, she won a bronze medal in the relay at the European Championships. She competed at the World Championships in 1991 and 1993. In 1992, she took a break from running because she was pregnant.

Peak Performance in 1994

Paula reached her best performance in 1994 at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria. She won a bronze medal in the 100 metres with a time of 11.23 seconds. She had run her personal best of 11.15 seconds in the semi-finals. In the 200 metres, she just missed a medal, running another personal best of 22.69 seconds. These times were the fastest for a British woman sprinter in the 1990s. She also won another bronze medal in the sprint relay.

In 1995, she competed at her fourth World Championships in Gothenburg. She reached the semi-finals in the 200 metres. Paula was chosen for the 1996 Olympic Games, but she had to pull out due to illness. As of 2019, Paula Dunn is among the top British sprinters of all time.

After Retirement from Running

Paula Dunn started working for UK Athletics in 2001. In 2009, she became the Paralympic performance manager. After the London 2012 Games, she was promoted. She became the Paralympic head coach, taking over from Peter Eriksson. She is the first female head coach appointed by UK Athletics.

National Titles Won

Paula Dunn won many national titles during her career:

• 6 times AAAs National Champion – 100 metres (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1995) and 200 metres (1989)
• 5 times UK National Champion – 100 metres (1986, 1987, 1988) and 200 metres (1987, 1988)
• 2 times AAAs Indoor Champion – 60 metres (1987, 1988)

Awards and Recognition

Paula Dunn was given the title of Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours. This award was for her great contributions to Athletics.

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)

See also

In Spanish: Paula Thomas para niños