Dawn Harper was born May 13, 1984 in East St. Louis, Illinois. Harper was a promising athlete in high school. She was raised by her mother and father and she has 2 brothers, and 2 sisters. In her freshman year, Harper won the 300m hurdles with a time of 42.70. During her sophomore year, she tore her PCL and Meniscus before the IHSA sectional meet. With a torn PCL and Meniscus, Harper still earned a silver medal in the 100m hurdles. She broke her own Illinois State Record in the 100m hurdles her junior year with a time of 13.54. During her senior year, Harper won her third state final in the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.82 and the 300m hurdles. Harper graduated from East St. Louis High School as a 6 time IHSA State Champion. She then attended UCLA and won the sprint hurdles at the US Junior Championships and at the Pan American Junior Athletics Championships. She received All-American honors twice at the 2004 NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship.
She won her first national outdoor title and the women's
Visa Championship Series in 2009. She is a three-time USA Outdoor champion with
her personal best of 12.36 in the 100 meter hurdles. In 2009, Harper won the
Outdoor Visa Champion for the 100 meter hurdles. In the 2008 Olympic Games, she
went home with the gold medal in the 100 meters hurdles after beating Lolo
Jones. She had a startling time of 12.54. However, in 2010 Harper suffered from
a knee injury and made a major comeback in 2011. In 2011, she won the bronze
medal World Outdoors with a time of 12.47 and then third at the USA Outdoors
with a time of 12.65. In 2012, Harper had a great year. She placed 2nd
at the London Olympic Games with a time of 12.37. In 2013, she married her hometown
friend, Alonzo Nelson on March 23rd.
"Dawn Harper." Team USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015. <http://www.teamusa.org/usa-track-and-field/athletes/Dawn-Harper>.
"Harper Got the Gold, but Lolo Took the Fame." USATODAY.COM. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015. <http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/london/track/story/2012-07-24/dawn-harper-and-lolo-jones/56461048/1>.
"IAAF: Athlete Profile for Dawn Harper Nelson." Iaaf.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015. <http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/united-states/dawn-harper-nelson-188986#honours>.
"London 2012 Summer Olympics | Olympic Videos, Photos, News."Athletics Results. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015. <http://www.olympic.org/olympic-results/london-2012/athletics>.
