General | 4/2/2020 6:23:00 PM

INDIANAPOLIS - Louise Ritter, a member of the Texas Woman's University Athletic Hall of Fame and a 1989 Distinguished Alumni honoree, set an American record in the women's high jump on March 29, 1980, and was a landslide winner of the first USATF Throwback Athlete of the Week award. 

Ritter, the 1988 Olympic gold medalist at Seoul, won in a fan vote with more than 50% of the 600+ ballots cast. Her 1980 American record performance came in Denton, where she cleared 1.94m/6-4.25 to add one more centimeter to her own American record, set in 1979 to win Pan Am Games gold. Ritter went on to raise the American record to 2.03m/6-8 at Austin, Texas in 1988, and matched that in her gold medal effort at Seoul. She set or tied the American record 10 times in her distinguished career. 

A three-time Olympic qualifier, Ritter's gold medal in Seoul was the United States' first gold medal in women's high jump since 1956. Ritter is a five-time USA Track & Field Indoor Champion in High Jump, winning in 1979, 1980, 1983, 1988, and 1989; and is a four-time Outdoor champion, winning in 1978, 1983, 1985, and 1986. 

Ritter, a native of Red Oak, Texas, competed in track and field as well as basketball at TWU. After setting the collegiate women's high jump record as a freshman, Ritter won national collegiate championships in 1977, 1978, and 1979. She obtained her degree in physical education in 1982.