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Profile - Glynis Nunn
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Glynis Nunn won the first ever Olympic Heptathlon in the Los Angeles Games of 1984. Two years earlier she had won the inaugural Commonwealth Games championship. |
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Glynis Saunders was born in Queensland in 1960 and began competing seriously in athletics in the mid 1970s. She became a local junior star through her success in sprint hurdles and long jump competitions. She began to compete in the pentathlon (100m Hurdles, Shot, High Jump, Long Jump, 200m) as a junior and had to adapt as the event changed to incorporate the 800m, instead of the 200m. She was selected to run in the 1977 World Cup at 100m Hurdles, when National Champion Penny Gillies had to withdraw. She was well beaten at the Cup, but continued to improve through the 1977/78 domestic season. Her performances earned her a place in the 1978 Commonwealth Games team but injury caused her to withdraw from the pentathlon. The
pentathlon was replaced by the seven-event heptathlon in 1981 - with
200m and Javelin events added to the challenge. To prepare
herself for the 1982 Commonwealth Games, Saunders moved to Adelaide to
train under Olympic coach John Daly. There, she married local
decathlete Chris Nunn and continued her teaching career. She
became a hero for both Queensland and South Australia at the Games,
when she won the Gold Medal for the Heptathlon. In an exciting
competition, she upset the favourite, Judy Livermore (Simpson) of
England and set a Commonwealth Record. She set a number of
personal bests during her hepthathlon competition and later She
also made the final of the 100m Hurdles and the Long Jump in the
Games. The next year, Glynis was a member of the Australian team for the
inaugural World Championships and she did well, placing seventh in the
Heptathlon behind strong competition, mainly from the Eastern Bloc. She was an almost automatic selection for the Los Angeles Olympic
team in 1984, though she was not considered to be a medal favourite.
This changed later, with the announcement of the boycott by most
Eastern Bloc countries and Nunn went into the Olympics, ranked third. During the Games, Nunn set a number of personal bests during her
heptathlon competition and eventually pipped the favourite, Jackie
Joyner (Kersee) of the USA, but just three points, with a new
Commonwealth Record of 6390 points. She continued to compete in
the Games, making the final of both 100m Hurdles and Long Jump - as
she had at the Commonwealth Games two years earlier. Having achieved her ultimate goal, Nunn pondered her future.
She decided to retire from the Heptathlon and concentrate on
hurdling. She won a bronze medal at the 1986 Commonwealth Games
in this event, but did not have the natural speed to make a mark at
world level. Realising this, Nunn prepared to move up to the
400m Hurdles. She had run some fast times for the event in the
past - without training seriously for 400m Hurdles, and looked to have
as much potential as Debbie Flintoff-King in the event. Injuries affected Nunn for the next few years, however, and she was
unable to make the transition to world class in this new event.
With the Commonwealth Games of 1990 to be held in Auckland, New
Zealand, Nunn (now re-married as Glynis Cearns) decided to seek
selection in the 100m Hurdles before announcing her retirement from
athletics. Currently, Cearns is still involved in athletics. She works
and coaches from her base at Runaway Bay in Queensland and has
competed, with success, in a number of master's events.
Glynis Nunn Biography - COMING SOON!!
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