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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to congratulate Dawn Harper on the
4occasion of winning a silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles
5event at the 2012 Olympic Games in London; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Dawn Harper was born on May 13, 1984, to Henry and
7Linda Harper; as a young girl in East St Louis, she was drawn
8to athletics and was a 6-time Illinois High School State
9Champion by the time she graduated from high school; during her
10senior year of high school, UCLA Track & Field Head Coach
11Jeanette Bolden traveled from Los Angeles to St. Louis to
12personally recruit Ms. Harper, who was offered a full athletic
13scholarship to UCLA; and
 
14    WHEREAS, During her time at UCLA, Dawn Harper majored in
15psychology and eagerly trained in the 100-meter hurdles;
16excelling in the event quickly, she earned the 2003 U.S. Junior
17National Champion and Pan-American Games Champion designations
18in the 100m hurdles event and received All-American honors
19twice at the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
20after coming eighth in the 100m hurdles and taking second with
21the 4x100m relay; in 2006, she was appointed as the women's
22track and field team captain; by the time of her graduation in
23June of 2006, she was a seven-time UCLA All-American; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, After college, Dawn Harper continued her career in
2track as a professional athlete, competing in such places as
3Zurich, Stockholm, Paris, London, Brazil, the Dominican
4Republic, Beijing, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, and
5Germany, as well as countless locations within the United
6States; and
 
7    WHEREAS, By July of 2008, Dawn Harper qualified to be on
8the USA Olympic Team by placing 3rd in the 100-meter hurdles
9and traveled to Beijing in 2008; despite being 4 years younger
10than the average age of an Olympian and being the underdog of
11the 100-meter hurdles event, she ran a perfect race and surged
12across the finish line for a spectacular victory in 12.54
13seconds; and
 
14    WHEREAS, After a lengthy rehabilitation from knee surgery
15in 2010, Dawn Harper returned to hurdling in April of 2011;
16after just four months of training and racing, she won the
17bronze medal at the World Championships with a personal-best of
1812.47 seconds; leading up to the 2012 Olympic Games in London,
19she took first place at both the Diamond League Meet in Rome
20and the IAAF World Challenge Meet in Daegu; during the closest
21finish since the Atlanta Olympic Games and the deepest-ever
22final in terms of performances, she ran a personal best of
2312.37 to capture the silver medal, only missing the gold medal

 

 

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1by .02 seconds; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Dawn Harper serves as a model of hard work,
3integrity, and dedication for the people of the State of
4Illinois; therefore, be it
 
5    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
6NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
7we congratulate Dawn Harper on her silver medal victory and
8wish her continued success and happiness in the future; and be
9it further
 
10    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
11presented to Dawn Harper as a symbol of our esteem and respect.