Featured image (Gracie Ann-Dinkins, Phobay Lolik, Ebony Morrison; trailblazing women)

In honor of Women’s History Month, Go Team Liberia looked back at the first ladies of the Liberia Olympic Team. These women have broken barriers, entered unknown spaces, and contributed to advancing the Olympic movement and sports in Liberia. 

Team Liberia made its first Olympic appearance in 1956 at the Melbourne Games in Australia. At that time, male athletes made up 100% of the team. 

Since then, women have gradually entered the space and raised the bar for Liberian women’s participation at the Olympics and in sports overall.

Here is a list of three trailblazing women who made history within the Liberia Olympic Team.

First female Olympian: Gracie-Ann Dinkins

grace Ann Dinkins photo credit California State University, Dominguez Hills
Photo credit: California State University, Dominguez Hills (Gracie Ann Dinkins headshot)

Gracie-Ann Dinkins is the first woman to represent Liberia at the Olympics. She competed in the women’s 100m race at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games. 

This was Liberia’s fifth attendance at the Summer Olympics. Dinkins went on to compete in the women’s 400m race at the 1996 Summer Olympics, and she competed in the women’s 100m race with Team Liberia, again at the 2000 Olympics.

Dinkins said that the 2000 Sydney Olympics Games was the first time she had another woman as a teammate — Hannah Cooper, who competed in the women’s 100 meter hurdles.

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First female flag bearer: Phobay Lolik

Phobay Lolik carrying the Liberian flag
Photo credit: IOC (Phobay Lolik carrying Liberian flag at 2012 London Olympics).

In 2012, after Liberia had already competed in 10 Olympic Games, Phobay Lolik became the country’s first woman to carry the flag at the Opening Ceremony.

Lolik was Liberia’s flag bearer at the 2012 London Olympic Games. She competed in the women’s 100 meters and went on to become one of the founding members of the Liberia Olympian Association LOA) and its first president. 

LOA is a network and resource group for Olympians who’ve represented Liberia at the Olympics. The organization also enhances the Olympic Movement within Liberia.

First female Olympian to win an African Championship: Ebony Morrison

Ebony Morrison holding the Liberian flag in Liberia track uniform by Telfar.
Photo credit: ILG Photography (Ebony Morrison)

Ebony Morrison made her Olympic debut with Team Liberia in the women’s 100 meter hurdles at the 2020 Tokyo Games, which were pushed back to 2021 due to Covid. 

Three years later, Morrison made history in Cameroon at the 2024 African Athletics Championships when she won gold in the women’s 100 meter hurdles. She became the first woman on Liberia’s national track team to win an African championship title. 

At that meet, she qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics. She made her second Olympic appearance with Team Liberia that year. 

An Olympic first: Kirsty Coventry

Kirsty Coventry new IOC president
Photo Credit: IOC (Kirsty Coventry).

Women’s History Month is a time to celebrate the achievements and resilience of women across the globe. On March 20, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) elected its first female president in its 131-year history, Zimbabwean Olympian and gold medalist, Kirsty Coventry. 

Coventry will officially take office on Olympic day, June 23, and will serve for the next eight years.

There are many more barriers for women to break on the Liberia Olympic Team and within the Olympic movement. With these types of representation women will continue making monumental strides.

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