Dianne Durham, the first Black black gymnastics star who won a national championship, has passed away at the age of 52.

According to her husband Tom Drahozal, the trailblazing athlete died at a Chicago hospital after battling a short illness. Her sister Alice Durham was by her side.

“She passed peacefully,” Drahozal told ESPN. “She was the love of my life and everything I could have asked for. She was as beautiful a person away from gymnastics as she was within the sport.”

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Durham was known for her combination of grace and power, while dominating the world of gymnastics. Unfortunately, Durham was Durham was deprived of a spot on the 1984 Olympics team due to a combination of injuries and politics.

But it is her achievement as 1983 senior national champion, which launched her onto the national stage, for which Durham is most remembered.

When her path to the 1984 Olympic was cut short, Durham took a job coaching with coach Martha Karolyis in Houston before eventually relocating to Chicago. Soon after, she met Drahozal and became a gym owner, a national-level judge and a coach.

Durham is survived by her husband and sister; her father, Ural Durham; niece, Allison Woods; and nephew, Mike Woods Jr.

A celebration of life is being planned in her hometown of Gary, Indiana, later in the year.