Diane Dixon

Who is Diane Dixon?

Diane Lynn Dixon is an American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres.

She competed for the United States in the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea in the 4 x 400 metres where she won the Silver medal with her team mates Denean Howard, Valerie Brisco-Hooks and Florence Griffith Joyner. Second place in that race is still the second fastest time ever run in that event and the current American record. She set her personal record of 49.84 while finishing third in an open semi-final in Seoul. Four years earlier she ran in the qualifying heat for the same relay that eventually took gold.

Dixon was also a part of two medal-winning teams in the 4x400 relay at the IAAF World Championships, taking a bronze in 1987 in Rome and a silver in 1991 in Tokyo.

Dixon was known for her aggressive frontrunning style indoors, where she could take the lead at the break and hold off her competitors who would have to run around her. In 1981 she won her first of her USA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Imperial distance of 440 yards. In 1983 she won again and began an unprecedented streak of ten consecutive wins in the 440 or 400 metres. In 1985, Dixon won the 400 metres at the IAAF World Indoor Championships. She repeated the feat again in 1991, setting the American Record at 50.64 seconds in the event. That record stood until March 13, 2010, when it was broken by Francena McCorory from Hampton University at the NCAA Championships.