Dot Richardson
- Byname of:
- Dorothy Gay Richardson
- Awards And Honors:
- Olympic Games
- Pan American Sports Games
Dot Richardson (born September 22, 1961, Orlando, Florida, U.S.) is an American physician and a former softball player who was a member of Olympic gold-medal-winning teams in 1996 and 2000.
Early life and education
Because Richardson’s father was an air force mechanic, she spent her early years on various military bases in the United States and abroad. She began playing softball competitively at age 10 and became, at age 13, the youngest player in the Women’s Major Fast Pitch League. In 1980 she received collegiate All-American honors at Western Illinois University, where her .480 batting average was the country’s highest. A shortstop who later also played second base, Richardson earned All-American honors three more times (1981–83) after transferring to the University of California, Los Angeles, where she led the team in hitting all three years. In addition to being named National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Player of the Decade for the 1980s, she was an important member of U.S. softball teams that won gold medals at the Pan American Games (1979, 1987, 1995, 1999) and the International Softball Federation women’s world championship (1986).
Olympics
After graduating from the University of Louisville (Kentucky) Medical School, Richardson interrupted her residency in orthopedic surgery at the University of Southern California to compete in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. The games marked the Olympic debut of softball, and the U.S. team dominated. Richardson hit a two-run home run to seal the team’s gold-medal win. In 2000 she claimed a second gold medal as a member of the U.S. team. Richardson was inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Coach at Liberty University and other activities
Richardson worked as the medical director of the National Training Center in Clermont, Florida, a large health and fitness complex, from 2001 to 2012. She also served (2002–09) as the vice chair of the President’s Council on Fitness.
In 2013 Richardson became coach of the women’s softball team, the Lady Flames, at Liberty University, and she revitalized the program, leading the team to several conference championships. She was named Big South Softball Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2018, and Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) Coach of the Year in 2021 and 2022. Richardson also played a key role in the planning of the 1,000-seat Liberty Softball Stadium, which opened in 2015.