Julia Hawkins

	Julia Hawkins
	; Hawkins at age 103
Birth:	10 February 1916; Wisconsin, USA
Death:	22 Oct 2024; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
Age:	108 years, 255 days
Country:	USA
	Centenarian

Julia "Hurricane" Hawkins (née Welles; 10 February 1916 - 22 Oct 2024) was an American centenarian masters athlete.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Julia Hawkins was born in Wisconsin, USA on 10 February 1916. Her parents were Julies Welles and Margaret Welles. When she was about 3 months old, her family moved to Louisiana.

She studied at Louisiana State University, where she met Murray Hawkins, who was a professor, in 1934. She married Murray Hawkins after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, where Murray was stationed. They wed by telephone, Julia in Louisiana and Murray still in Pearl Harbor. The couple had four children: Lad Hawkins, Margaret Matens, Julia "Jugie" Battle and Warren Hawkins (aged 69 in July 2017).

During the World War II, her brother was in a German concentration camp. She worked as a teacher in Donaldsonville and Brusly. Later, she worked in Honduras, where she taught the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh grades in a single schoolroom.

Murray died on 7 March 2013 at the age of 95, after 70 years of marriage. She also outlived her granddaughter Mandy Hawkins.

In 2016, her daughter Margaret Hawkins Matens wrote a book about her life called "It's Been Wondrous: The Memoirs of Julia Welles Hawkins".

Masters athlete career[]

In 2017, Hawkins (aged 101) became the oldest woman ever in the USA Track and Field Outdoors Masters Championships, and ran the 100 meters in 40.12 seconds. Previously that year she had run the 100 meters in 39.62 seconds. That is a new world record for women 100 or older.

At the 2018 Masters National Indoor Track and Field Championship, she and Orville Rogers (aged 100) set 60 meter dash world records.

Hawkins competed at the June 2019 National Senior Games in the sprints.

On 15 August 2021, Diane "Flash" Friedman (aged 100) broke Hawkins' world record for her age group in the 100-meter dash at the Michigan Senior Olympics. On the same day, she also broke the world record for her age group in the 200-meter dash and the American record for the javelin.

Later life[]

Around 8 January 2021 at the age of 104, Hawkins received her first dose of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. On 29 January 2021 at the age of 104, Hawkins received her second dose.

As of January 2021, she had three grandchildren (Morgan Matens, Murray Kimball and Cooper Battle) and two great-grandchildren.

In November 2021, she reportedly beat the record for the 100 meter dash on the 105+ age group with a time of 1:02:95.

Julia Hawkins died at her home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA at the age of 108 years, 255 days.