Julia Hawkins (née Welles; February 10, 1916 – October 22, 2024) was an American sprinter and cyclist. She took up track and field after turning 100, and set world records in the 100-meter dash in her age category.[1][2][3]
 Hawkins on her 108th birthday in 2024 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Julia Welles |
| Born | February 10, 1916 Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | October 22, 2024 (aged 108) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Spouse |
Murray Hawkins
(m. 1942; died 2013) |
| Children | 4 |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Track and field |
Biography
editJulia Welles was born in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, on February 10, 1916. When she was a few months old, her family moved to Ponchatoula, Louisiana, where they ran a summer resort.[4]
She attended Louisiana State University, where she studied teaching.[5][6] She worked three jobs to fund her college education.[6] After graduating college in 1938,[6] she taught four grades in a one-room school on a banana plantation in Honduras.[7] She returned to the United States with a pet monkey.[7]
She met her husband, Murray Hawkins (d. 2013) at an Episcopal Church party as a freshman at LSU.[4] Murray was working as a physicist at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii when it was bombed in 1941.[7] Following the attack, Julia and Murray married over the telephone on November 29, 1942, while he continued to work in Hawaii.[8] The couple had four children.[5] While her husband was deployed, Hawkins worked as an educator in Ponchatoula, cycling seven miles each day to the school.[4]
In 1949, Hawkins and her husband built a home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.[9] Hawkins was an "avid gardener" who grew bonsai in her backyard.[7][9]
In 2016, she self-published the memoir It’s Been Wondrous!, which she had handwritten over the course of 30 years.[4]
Hawkins lived in Baton Rouge until her death there on October 22, 2024, at the age of 108.[5][1][4]
Sports
editHawkins was interested in sport throughout her life, and took up competitive cycling at age 75.[5][4] She competed in the National Senior Games as a cyclist for around a decade, beginning in 1995,[6] winning six gold medals in their 5K and 10K cycling races.[7]
She began running when she was 100, after her children encouraged her to enter the Louisiana Senior Games.[5][4] At the 2016 Louisiana Senior Games, she completed the 50-meter sprint in 19.07 and biked in the 5K cycling race.[9]
At the 2017 National Senior Games, she won the women's 100+ 100-meter sprint, with a record time of 36.62 seconds, and finished the 50-meter sprint in 18.31 seconds.[10] In July 2017, she competed in the 100-meter sprint in the 100-104 age category of the USA Track and Field Outdoors Masters Championships, finishing with a time of 39.62.[5][4]
In 2019, she participated in the National Senior Games, where she competed in shot put and the 50-meter and 100-meter sprints.[7]
In 2021, she became the first female runner to record a time in the 100-meter sprint in the 105+ age category, with a time of 1:02:95.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b Lukpat, Alyssa (October 23, 2024). "Julia Hawkins, Centenarian Sprinter, Dies at 108". The New York Times. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
- ^ Fuchs, Matt (November 17, 2021). "She is 105 and runs the 100 meters. How Julia Hawkins stays physically and mentally fit". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
- ^ Mervosh, Sarah (June 20, 2019). "She's 103 and Just Ran the 100-Meter Dash. Her Life Advice? 'Look for Magic Moments'". The New York Times. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Aggarwal, Eva (October 24, 2024). "Track & Field Fans Mourns Death of 108-Year-Old Athlete That Changed the Sport Forever: "RIP Hurricane"". EssentiallySports. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Wise, Alana (October 24, 2024). "Senior sprinter Julia 'Hurricane' Hawkins dies at 108". National Public Radio. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Netter, Sarah (June 11, 2017). "Julia Hawkins started running at 100. Now she's going for the gold". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f Hoppe, Stephanie (August 26, 2022). "7 Pearls of Wisdom From a 103-Year-Old World Record Runner". Outside. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
- ^ Lukpat, Alyssa (October 23, 2024). "Julia Hawkins, Centenarian Sprinter, Dies at 108". New York Times. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
- ^ a b c McCoy, Jenny (March 24, 2017). "Meet Julia Hawkins, the 101-Year-Old Who Has Recently Taken up Competitive Running". Runner's World. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
- ^ "142 Records Set at 2017 National Senior Games presented by Humana". National Senior Games Association. June 21, 2017.