By james art BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Baton Rouge resident and senior Olympian, Julia “Hurricane” Hawkins, died Tuesday evening at St. James Place in Baton Rouge, according to The Advocate. She was 108 years old.
Hawkins began competitive cycling in his 70s, but achieved national fame as a runner. In 2017, aged 101, Hawkins earned her nickname by becoming the oldest woman to compete in the 50m and 100m at the National Senior Games, records she broke just two years later.
At 105, she set a new world and American record in the 100m event at the Louisiana Senior Games in Hammond in 2019. She is the first woman and the first American to set a Masters Lack & Field World Record in the 105+ Age Division. Hawkins’ time was 1:02:95.
Hawkins began competing in 2016 when her four children signed her up for the Louisiana Senior Games, The Advocate reports.
Born and raised in Ponchatoula, she attended LSU where she met her future husband, Murray Hawkins, during her freshman year. She went on to teach at LSU and chaired the petroleum engineering department. She eventually left her career to raise her children.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.
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