CSUN Olympic Spotlight - Dawn Ellerbe

With the Tokyo Olympics postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, GoMatadors.com takes a moment to look back at CSUN's history at the Olympic Games. In today's Olympic Spotlight, we take a look at Olympian and current CSUN Associate Athletics Director of Marketing, Branding and Fan Development, Dawn Ellerbe.

Twenty years ago, Dawn Ellerbe traveled to Sydney, Australia to compete in the 2000 Olympic Games knowing she would be a part of history.

The 2000 Olympics represented the first time the women's hammer throw competition would be held at the summer games and Ellerbe, the world record holder of the hammer throw and 20-pound weight at the time, was making her debut on the Olympic stage.

Ellerbe enjoyed a decorated collegiate career at the University of South Carolina (1993-97) where she was a four-time NCAA Champion and six-time All-American for indoor and outdoor track and field. Originally a discus and shot-put competitor, Ellerbe was persuaded by her coach, Larry Judge, to take up the hammer throw, and the rest was history.

Dawn Ellerbe Hammer — Ellerbe was a 12-time
national champion in the
hammer throw

"I took up the hammer because the NCAA announced they would put the hammer in the 1996 NCAA Championships for the women," said Ellerbe. "[Judge] said I should start working on it so I could win a national title. I was like, 'what?' Coach Larry Judge believed in me more than I believed in myself."

Ellerbe admittedly did not think about the Olympics much during her collegiate career, but it started to become more of a possibility ahead of the '96 Olympic Games.

"At the time, you're a young kid and when you're going through it, you don't have a plan in place," said Ellerbe. "They didn't have the hammer in Olympics in '96, instead they had it as an exhibition in our trials, and when I won the trials, I was thinking if they had the hammer that year, I would be an Olympian right now."

Ellerbe won the first of six USA Outdoor championships in 1995 and claimed her first of six USA Indoor Championships in 1996. Becoming one of the premiere hammer throwers in the United States, Ellerbe would win gold at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada with a distance of 65.36m.

After winning her first gold medal in international competition, Ellerbe competed at the IAAF World Championships later in 1999 in Seville, Spain, finishing 10th in the hammer throw.

Her hard work would finally be realized a year later when she competed in the 2000 Olympic Games. While an experienced thrower by the time she reached Sydney, Ellerbe felt competing in the Olympics carried more weight than any other event.

"I think the competition is the same as any other competition but the gravity of everything that goes into the Olympics and representing your country is greater," said Ellerbe.

Ellerbe would finish ahead of all of the American throwers and seventh overall at the event with a distance of 66.80m.

There are several moments that stick out to Ellerbe but some of the most memorable came during the opening ceremonies.

"The opening ceremonies were overwhelming," said Ellerbe. "I think being in the stadium with all of the other athletes from all over the world was really eye-opening. It doesn't matter your background or where you come from, everyone there, regardless of their sport and the languages they speak, the common thread and common goal was to win and to be the best in your competition. It was a beautiful feeling."

After the Olympics, Ellerbe continued her hammer throw career, eventually competing in two more IAAF World Championships in 2001 and 2003 as well as the '03 Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic before retiring in 2004.

A pioneer in the women's hammer throw, Ellerbe has since transitioned into a career in college athletics. She worked in the marketing department at the University of South Carolina before serving as the Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing at Cal State East Bay. Over the past seven years, Ellerbe has overseen CSUN Athletics' marketing and promotion efforts, game day experience and event operations.

Two decades after she helped make history in Sydney, Ellerbe looks at her accomplishments on the field of competition with great pride.

"Being one of the first to compete in the hammer throw, it was special because when you look back on it, you're always a part of history," said Ellerbe. "It was such an honor."

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CSUN Olympic Spotlight - Dawn Ellerbe

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