Lori Norwood​

In 1983 after spending a year at the University of Texas, where she ran cross country, Lori Norwood moved to San Antonio to become a full time pentathlete. In 1984, she made her first world championship team. She remains the only American woman to win a world championship in the sport of Modern Pentathlon.  ​

Between 1983 and 1991, Norwood competed in seven U.S. National Championships, six San Antonio Cup Invitationals, numerous international events and five World Championships. She won five international competitions in 1989, highlighted by her World Championship title and leading the USA team to a second-place finish at that competition. In 1990, she placed second at the World Championships, won the Seattle Goodwill Games and the U.S. Nationals, and repeated as champion of the San Antonio Cup.  ​

Norwood’s seven National Championship appearances produced one win and three second place results, and she won the individual title at the 1989 U.S. Olympic Festival in Oklahoma City. She was a finalist for the AAU James E. Sullivan Award in 1989 and 1990 as the nation’s finest amateur athlete and was named the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Amateur Athlete of the Year in 1990.  She was the San Antonio Express-News Female Athlete of the year in 1989 and is a member of the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame. Since retiring, she has picked up a successful career in sculpting.​