Debbie Jones-Hunter

Achievements:

• Athlete of the Decade: 1970s

• National Records: Set or lowered senior national records 14 times over four years

• Carifta Games: Multiple gold medals and record-setting performances

• CAC Games: First Bermudian individual to win a gold medal at a senior competition (100m title)

• Pan Am Games: Record-setting performances in the 100m and 200m

• Olympic Competitor: 1976 Montreal Olympics

• World Record: Indoor 4x200m relay team, 1978

Biography:

Debbie Jones-Hunter was the brightest star in track and field's early days, Bermuda's Golden Girl whose swift legs catapulted her into local, Carifta, and CAC record books. Before hanging up her running shoes, she would even share a world record.

Jones-Hunter was named Bermuda's Athlete of the Decade for the 1970s, but she was also revered overseas. Bermuda's sporting fraternity is grateful that back in 1972, PE coach Gerry Swan asked a young Berkeley student to attend training with then-national coach Clive Longe. Jones jokes about the six-day-a-week training sessions but says there was a "family atmosphere" though it was also "very tough."

Her star began to rise the following season when, at 14, she established two national marks. On May 4, 1973, she clocked 11.9 seconds in the 100 meters in Trinidad, breaking a 20-year Bermuda record held by Thelma Jones by 0.6 of a second. For an encore, she chopped 1 second off Branwen Smith's 200m mark the next day. Hunter had arrived and would establish or lower senior national records 14 times over the next four years.

Another magical day for her was April 4, 1975; running on home soil in the Carifta Games, she lowered her mark in the hand time 100m to 11.2. She then smashed Donna Bean's 400m record by 2.4 seconds. Hunter had enough gas the next day to obliterate her own time in the 200m with a 23.3. The home crowd at National Stadium went wild for their new heroine.

That bode well for the 1975 CAC Games, at which she would become the first Bermudian individual to win a gold medal at a senior competition, winning the 100m title with a wind-aided 11.85. Hunter again lowered the marks as she set the track ablaze in the 1975 Pan Am Games in Mexico, where her records in the 100 and 200 fell four times.

It was in Mexico that she caught the attention of legendary track coach Edward Temple, of the Tennessee State University Tigerbelles, the top women's program in the US. He offered her a full scholarship if she would sprint for his team. Hunter accepted on one condition - that he wait until after the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. She felt she owed that to Coach Longe. However, despite high expectations at home, Montreal was a disaster for her.

In a pre-Olympics warm-up, Hunter had sprinted around the Canadian track in a blazing 53.3 for the 400m, knocking 2.2 seconds off her record. Anticipation was high at home because Hunter's top events, the 100 and 200, were going to be run on the same track. But fate dealt a cruel blow; in a qualifying heat in the 100m, she pulled a hamstring and prematurely severed her Olympic career. Hunter never got a chance to prove herself in the next Games as Bermuda honored a US-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics.

At the 1977 Carifta Games, she brought home gold medals for the sixth consecutive year, a Bermuda record for consistency. She finished her Carifta career with 20 medals, 12 of them gold and six of them silver. While running for the famed Tigerbelles, she edged down her 100m record to 11.46 in Knoxville, Tennessee. On June 10, 1977, Hunter lowered her 200m record for the final time with a clocking of 23.05 at a meet at UCLA. Nike had a poster made up of Hunter and her teammates breaking the tape and finishing 1-2-3 in the 100m.

Debbie Jones-Hunter reached the pinnacle of her career when she helped set a world record in the indoor 4x200m in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1978. In 1980, Hunter was recognized for her accomplishments by the WF 'Chummy" Hayward Sports Foundation. She was selected as Athlete of the Decade. Of course, she is much more than the athlete of the 70s - Debbie Hunter-Jones is also one of Bermuda's athletes of the century.

Legacy:

Debbie Jones-Hunter's legacy is one of excellence, perseverance, and inspiration. Her achievements on the track set new standards for Bermudian athletes, and her commitment to her sport and her team exemplified the spirit of dedication. Her records and medals are a testament to her hard work and talent, and her story continues to inspire future generations of athletes in Bermuda and beyond.