Dawn Harper-Nelson

Dawn Harper-Nelson (born May 13, 1984) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 100-meter hurdles.

She received All-American honours twice at the 2004 NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship, after coming eighth in the 100 m hurdles final and taking second place in the 4×100-meter relay.

She was the gold medalist in the event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the silver medalist in the 2012 London Olympic Games and the 2017 World Championships.

Harper is the first American 100-meter hurdler to ever win gold at an Olympics and medal in the following Olympics.

She is trained by Bob Kersee, husband of Jackie Joyner-Kersee, six time Olympic medalist also from her hometown of East St. Louis, Illinois.

She is a member of the 2022 class of the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.

In high school, Harper showed much promise in the sport by winning her first IHSA 2A state championship and breaking the Illinois state record in the 100m hurdles her freshman year with a time of 14.03.

In her freshman year, she also won the 300m hurdles with a time of 42.70.

Her sophomore year was met with much adversity when she tore her posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) and meniscus before the IHSA sectional meet.

With a torn PCL and meniscus, Harper still earned a silver medal in the 100m hurdles, but the discomfort moved her coach, Nino Fennoy, to scratch her from the 300m hurdle finals.

She broke her own Illinois state record in the 100m hurdles her junior year with a time of 13.54.

That record time still currently stands.

Senior year Harper came back and defended her titles winning her third state final in the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.82 and the 300m hurdles.

Harper graduated from East St. Louis Senior High as a 6-time IHSA state champion.

During her time with the UCLA Bruins, Harper won the sprint hurdles at the US Junior Championships and at the Pan American Junior Athletics Championships.

Harper had a rough start to the 2008 season when she suffered an injury that required arthroscopic surgery in February.

This was right before the outdoor season began.

However, four months later, she made it to her first Olympic team at the U.S. Olympic Trials, squeaking into third place by .007 seconds.

During training for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she struggled with getting sponsors, but was given a hand by her teammate, injured hurdler Michelle Perry, when she was given a pair of spikes.

These were the pair Harper raced in through the Olympics.

Harper, then 24 years old, won her first Olympic gold medal for 100 m hurdles with a time of 12.54 seconds, a new personal best for Harper.

It was a surprise win amid crushing losses to US Olympic track-and-field team favorites, Lolo Jones and Sanya Richards, and propelling Harper to international renown.

Harper closed 2008 with a third-place performance at 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final.

The defending Olympic gold medalist won her first national title in the women's 100m hurdles in 12.36.

Though wind-aided, Harper posted the fourth fastest time ever by an American under any conditions.

She recorded a personal best of 12.48 seconds in the semi-finals of the 100 m hurdles at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin.

In the final Harper clipped hurdle two throwing her off bringing her back to manage a seventh-place finish.

She went on to 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final running 12.61 seconds for a silver medal.

She finished the season ranked second in the world in the 100m hurdles.

In 2010 Harper suffered a knee injury at hurdle practice which ended her season early.

The career-threatening injury led to surgery and rehabilitation that occurred throughout the 2010 season until the beginning of the 2011 Outdoor season.

With four months of training, Harper again made the US team placing third in the 100 meter hurdles at the USA Outdoor Championships.

Getting back into championship form, she finished third in the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, earning the bronze medal and a new personal best of (12.47).

Harper started her 2012 season healthy for the first time since 2009.

As she raced to prepare for the 2012 Olympics in London, Harper traveled to the West Indies to start her season with a victory at a rainy Guadalupe Meet.

She then crossed the Atlantic to win both the Rome Diamond League 100m hurdle showdown and the Colorful Daegu Pre Championship Meet in South Korea.

Harper carried that great form on to Eugene, Oregon, to begin her quest for her second Olympic gold medal at the Olympic Trials.

The reigning Olympic vhampion showed up as the favorite and did not disappoint.

She kept her quest alive winning her first U.S. Olympic Trials in Oregon at Hayward Field in very soggy conditions.

In London, Harper showed great fitness advancing from the quarterfinals in 12.75, then a running a season's best and personal record 12.46 in the semifinals.