Yvonne Saunders

Yvonne Saunders-Mondesire (born 9 October 1951) is a Canadian former track and field athlete. A versatile athlete, she competed in women's pentathlon, long jump, high jump, 400 metres and 800 metres. She competed internationally for Canada, Jamaica, and England during her career.

She was a double medallist for Jamaica at the 1971 Pan American Games and was the 400 m champion at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games for Canada. She competed twice at the Summer Olympics: in 1972 for Jamaica and in 1976 for Canada.

Early life and education Born Yvonne Saunders in Jamaica, she emigrated with her family to England at the age of eight. Her talent for track and field was identified in her teens while she was at Gorse Park High School in Stretford, Greater Manchester. Competing in the high jump she won the intermediate category at the English Schools' Athletics Championships in 1966 and 1967. She began to expand her oeuvre of events and at the AAA Junior Championships she was the under-17 high jump winner in 1967, then took a high jump pentathlon double in 1968. She represented England at the British Schools International Match, winning high jump in 1967 and 1968. Her international duties brought her to Montreal in 1968 and the family decided to move there that same year. Her talents came along with some unwanted attention and she later recounted: "I was also called racist names as I jogged in the city and white parents approached me at meetings pleading that I should allow their daughters to win".

At the 1971 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics she won three medals, being individual bronze medallist in the 400 m and long jump and a gold medallist with the 4 × 400 metres relay team. Further accolades followed at the Pan American Games later that year, where she took bronze medals in the individual and relay 400 m events. She was also fifth in the long jump, clearing six metres. Her Olympic debut came in 1972 at the Munich Games. She was a semi-finalist in the 400 m and ran in the heats with the relay team including Ruth Williams, Una Morris and Rosie Allwood. She won a second medal with her teammates in the relay, sharing the bronze medals alongside Brenda Walsh, Margaret McGowen and Maureen Crowley. Later that year she set a world indoor best for the 600 metres distance (at 1:18.4 minutes) and she had a 400 m win at the WAAA Championships, setting a championship record of 51.90 seconds in the process of winning the event at the 1974 WAAA Championships.

Injuries affected Saunders in the subsequent two years, starting with a herniated back in 1975, then a knee injury. She had a successful appeal to the International Olympic Committee to speed up her citizenship and eligibility to compete at the 1976 Summer Olympics for Canada. With her training interrupted, she was off her 1974 best at the competition. She retired from the sport in 1982, having become increasingly disillusioned with the greater role that money and performance-enhancing drugs were having in the sport. She married Dr. Roy Mondesire, a scientist, and the couple had two children. She was inducted into Athletics Ontario Hall of Fame in 2014 and lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Personal bests 400 metres – 51.67 seconds (1974) 800 metres – 2:00.1 minutes (1975)

International competitions

National titles Canadian Track and Field Championships 400 metres: 1970, 1973 Long jump: 1970