View source for Dorothy Dodson

{{short description|American track and field athlete}}
'''Dorothy Lucille Dodson''' (March 28, 1919 &ndash; June 24, 2003) was a distinguished [[Americans|American]] [[track and field]] athlete whose career spanned the late 1930s through late 1940s; Dodson's specialty was the throwing events. From 1939 to 1949&mdash;with the exception of 1940&mdash;Dodson participated in every U.S. [[Amateur Athletic Union|AAU]] Outdoor National Championships.

Born in [[Chicago, Illinois]], Dodson won 11 consecutive National Championships in the [[javelin throw]], 1939&ndash;49. She also won national titles in the [[shot put]] in 1944, 1946, and 1947; adding a national championship in the [[discus throw]] at the 1946 AAU Meet. 
Dodson was also the gold medalist in the shot put at the U.S. AAU Indoor Championships in 1941, 1945, and 1946.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.legacy.usatf.org/statistics/champions/|title = USATF - Statistics}}</ref>

Like so many amateur athletes of the era, Dodson and her contemporaries were denied an opportunity to compete at the ill-fated 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games; a world at war would have to wait for such things. The crowning achievement of Dodson's career came in 1948, when she represented the [[United States]] at the [[Summer Olympics]] in [[London]]. Dodson competed in the shot put, discus, and javelin throw; she was a finalist in the javelin, finishing in fourth place, {{convert|10|cm|in}} from a [[bronze medal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usolympicteam.com/13220.htm |title=United States Olympic Committee - <%=GetHeadline13220()%> |access-date=2007-09-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930030851/http://www.usolympicteam.com/13220.htm |archive-date=2007-09-30 }}</ref>

Dodson remains the last United States athlete, male or female, to compete in three throwing events at a single Olympic Games.

Dodson died at the age of 84, in [[Dunedin, Florida]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200418072030/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/do/dorothy-dodson-1.html Sports Reference]</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/do/dorothy-dodson-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418072030/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/do/dorothy-dodson-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-04-18 |title=Dorothy Dodson}}
*[http://www.legacy.usatf.org/statistics/champions/ United States Track and Field]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930030851/http://www.usolympicteam.com/13220.htm United States Olympic Committee]

{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in women's shot put}}
{{Footer US NC shot put Women}}
{{Footer US NC Discus Throw Women}}
{{Footer US NC Javelin Women}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1948 Summer Olympics}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodson, Dorothy}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from Chicago]]
[[Category:American female javelin throwers]]
[[Category:American female discus throwers]]
[[Category:American female shot putters]]
[[Category:Olympic track and field athletes for the United States]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportswomen]]