Dot Richardson, M.D., will share the story of her uphill climb to softball Olympic gold in her talk, “Live Up to Your Dreams,” at 11 a.m. March 12 in Graham Chapel.
Her lecture will serve as the Assembly Series’ Omicron Delta Kappa/Helen Manley Memorial Lecture.
In addition, there will be an informal discussion and reception with Richardson from 1:30-2:30 p.m. in the Women’s Building Lounge.
Both events are free and open to the public.
As U.S. team captain, Richardson led the squad to gold medals in both the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. She was the first woman to hit a home run in the Olympics.
She began her career in 1979 as a 17-year-old starter for the U.S. national team. The team took the gold at the Pan American Games that year.
Richardson took a oneyear leave of absence from her orthopaedic surgery residency at the University of Southern California to compete in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Three days after her team won gold, Richardson was back at USC. She completed her residency in 1999 and began a oneyear fellowship at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles.
In June, Richardson was named vice chair of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
She also is the recipient of the 2002 Flo Hyman Award — an honor bestowed by the Women’s Sports Foundation for “exemplifying dignity, spirit and commitment to excellence.”
Richardson is executive director and medical director of U.S.A. Triathlon National Training Center in Orlando, Fla. The center is a state-of-theart facility where athletes at all levels have the opportunity to meet not only athletic goals but also quality-of-life goals.
Richardson’s 1998 book, Living the Dream, offers a personal account of her remarkable athletic career, her determination to excel at everything she tried, her work as an orthopaedic surgeon, and the training and competition of the 1996 games.
There will be limited public seating for Richardson’s lecture. For more information, call 935-5285 or visit the Assembly Series Web site, wupa.wustl.edu/assembly.