 |
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | February 18, 1958 (age 66) Dallas, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Louise Dorothy Ritter (born February 18, 1958) is an American former track and field athlete who won the gold medal in the high jump at the 1988 Olympic Games.
|
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | February 18, 1958 (age 66) Dallas, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Louise Dorothy Ritter (born February 18, 1958) is an American former track and field athlete who won the gold medal in the high jump at the 1988 Olympic Games.
Ritter qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but was unable to compete due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. She did, however, receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes. [1]
Ritter won the gold medal in the women's high jump at the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea. [2] In doing so she upset Stefka Kostadinova, the reigning world champion and world record-holder in the event.
A graduate from Red Oak High School, she now has a street named after her[ citation needed ] in her former home town of Red Oak, Texas. [3]
She graduated from Texas Woman's University in 1988 where she starred for U.S. Olympic coach Dr. Bert Lyle.
Ritter was inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame, Class of 2012, [4] and the USTFCCCA Collegiate Athlete Hall of Fame in 2024.
Note: During the 1980s, the US Championships and US Olympic trials were separate events.
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  United States | |||||
| 1977 | World Cup | Düsseldorf, Germany | 4th | 1.83 m | |
| 1979 | Pan American Games | San Juan, Puerto Rico | 1st | 1.93 m | |
| World Cup | Montreal, Canada | 5th | 1.87 m | ||
| 1983 | World Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 3rd | 1.95 m | |
| 1984 | Olympic Games | Los Angeles, United States | 8th | 1.91 m | |
| 1986 | Goodwill Games | Moscow, Soviet Union | 8th | 1.89 m | |
| 1987 | World Championships | Rome, Italy | 8th | 1.93 m | |
| 1988 | Olympic Games | Seoul, South Korea | 1st | 2.03 m | |
Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee is a retired American track and field athlete, ranked among the all-time greats in the heptathlon as well as long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals in those two events at four different Olympic Games. Sports Illustrated for Women magazine voted Joyner-Kersee the Greatest Female Athlete of All-Time. She served on the board of directors for USA Track & Field (U.S.A.T.F.), the national governing body of the sport.
Sheryl Ann Johnson is a former field hockey player and coach from the United States. She grew up in Cupertino, CA, and attended Monta Vista High School. She was a three-sport athlete at the University of California Berkeley, playing field hockey, basketball and softball.
Tracee Ann Talavera is an American former artistic gymnast who competed for the United States at the Olympics and World Championships. She qualified for the 1980 Olympic team. She was the 1981 and 1982 U.S. National All-around Champion and a member of the silver medal-winning American team at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Talavera was born in Santa Clara, California.
Catherine "Kathy" Laverne McMillan is a retired American athlete, who mainly competed in the long jump.
Benita Fitzgerald Mosley is a retired American athlete, who mainly competed in the women's 100 metres hurdles event.
Elizabeth Anne "Beth" Beglin is a former field hockey player from the United States, who was a member of the Women's National Team that won the bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
Mac Maurice Wilkins is an American athlete, who competed mainly in the discus throw. He was born in Eugene, Oregon and graduated in 1969 from Beaverton High School in Beaverton, Oregon.
Larry Myricks is an American former track and field athlete, who mainly competed in the long jump event. He is a two-time winner of the World Indoor Championships and a two-time winner of the World Cup. He also won a bronze medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and bronze medals at the World Championships in 1987 and 1991.
Pamela Ann Spencer-Marquez is a retired high jumper from the United States, who set her personal best on 1981-08-28, jumping 1.97 metres at a meet in Brussels, Belgium. She competed for her native country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, finishing in eleventh place.
Henry Dinwoodey Marsh is a retired runner from the United States, who made four U.S. Olympic teams and represented his native country in the men's 3,000 meter Steeplechase in three Summer Olympics, from 1976 through 1988.
Megan Neyer is an American former competition springboard and platform diver. Neyer was a member of the ill-fated 1980 U.S. Olympic team, the 1982 world champion springboard diver, a fifteen-time U.S. national diving champion, and an eight-time NCAA champion.
Matthew Centrowitz is a two-time Olympic distance runner, a four-time United States champion, a collegiate All-American, a nationally renowned high school athlete, and a collegiate cross country and track coach.
Melanie Smith is an equestrian from the United States and Olympic champion.
Stephanie Hightower is an American former hurdler and former president of USA Track & Field (USATF). She is a four-time U.S. Champion at 100 meter hurdles and a five-time U.S. Indoor Champion at 60 meter hurdles. She also won the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials, but was prevented from competing in the Moscow Olympics due to the boycott. She won a silver medal at the 1987 Pan American Games.
Carol LeGrant Lewis is an American former track and field athlete who specialized in the long jump. She is the 1983 World Championship bronze medalist, and a 4-time US Champion. Her best long jump of 7.04 meters in 1985 is the former American record. She is the sister of 9-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis, and former professional soccer player Cleveland Lewis. She is also the daughter of retired American hurdler Evelyn Lawler.
Frances Anne "Francie" Larrieu Smith is an American track and field athlete. She was the flagbearer at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona for the United States of America. Larrieu Smith was the third female American athlete to make five American Olympic teams, behind the six of fencer Jan York-Romary and Track and Field's Willye White. The feat was later equaled by basketball player Teresa Edwards, track and field's Gail Devers, cyclist/speedskater Chris Witty and swimmer Dara Torres. After one of the longest elite careers on record, she retired from that level of competition.
Jill Ann Sterkel is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, former world record-holder, and water polo player. Sterkel won four medals in three Olympic Games spanning twelve years. She was the women's head coach of the Texas Longhorns swimming and diving team at the University of Texas at Austin from 1992 to 2007.
James Hartung is a retired American gymnast. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska.
Maren Elizabeth Seidler is a retired American track and field athlete. She dominated the shot put from the mid 1960s through 1980. She won the event at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships eleven times starting in 1967, including nine in a row from 1972 to 1980. She was the American champion indoors nine times, 1968-9, 1972, 1974-5 and 1977 to 1980. She won her event at the United States Olympic Trials four straight times 1968-1980, a feat only equalled by only one woman, Madeline Manning, Edwin Moses is the only man to achieve four. Jackie Joyner Kersee is the only woman who has won more events at the Olympic Trials, split between the long jump and heptathlon. She competed in the Olympics three times, making the final twice. Her 1980 selection was quashed by the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. Seidler did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes.
Sharon Dabney is a retired American track and field athlete.
|
|
USTFCCCA Collegiate Track & Field/Cross Country Athlete Hall of Fame | ||
|---|---|---|
| Class of 2022 |
|  |
| Class of 2023 | ||
| Class of 2024 | ||
 | This biographical article about an American high jumper is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
