Oakes was born in
Hackney, London. She was a member of the
Haringey Athletic Club. In 1977, as Heather Hunte, she finished fourth in the 100 m final at the European Junior Championships in
Donetsk, being edged out of a medal by teammate
Kathy Smallwood (11.71 - 11.72). She won a bronze medal in the sprint relay. Hunte became the
British 100 metres champion after winning the British
WAAA Championships title at the
1979 WAAA Championships. On 21 May 1980, at a meeting at the
Crystal Palace, she ran the 100 metres in a
wind-assisted 11.01 secs (+4.0). Later that year she competed for Great Britain at the
Olympic Games in
Moscow, where she won a
bronze medal in the
4 × 100 metres relay, with her teammates Smallwood,
Beverley Goddard and
Sonia Lannaman. They ran a UK record of 42.43, which stood as the UK record until 2014. She also placed eighth in the 100 m final in 11.34 secs. In 1982, now competing as Heather Oakes, she finished seventh in the 100 metres final at the
Commonwealth Games in 11.39. In 1983, at the
World Championships in Helsinki, she reached the semi-finals of the 100 metres, running 11.50. At the
1984 Olympic Games in
Los Angeles, Oakes reunited with two of her Moscow teammates, Kathy Cook (Smallwood)) and Beverley Callender (Goddard) to win another bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay, they were joined by
Simmone Jacobs. In the 100 m final, she finished seventh in 11.43. She had a fine indoor season in 1985, winning medals at both the
World Indoor Games and the
European Indoor Championships. At the World Indoors in January in Paris, she won a silver medal in 7.21 secs, just one-one hundredth of a second behind the winner
Silke Gladisch. Then at the Europeans in March, she won the bronze medal behind
Nelli Cooman and
Marlies Gohr, but ahead of Gladisch. Oakes also regained the 100 metres title at the
1985 WAAA Championships. Oakes became
Commonwealth 100 m champion in
Edinburgh, Scotland in 1986. She won in a lifetime best time of 11.20 secs. In an incredibly close race, she edged ahead of teammate
Paula Dunn (11.21) and Canada's
Angella Issajenko (also 11.21). Oakes later teamed up with Dunn, Kathy Cook and
Joan Baptiste, to win the
gold medal in the sprint relay. Oakes anchored the England quartet to victory in 43.39. Later in 1986, she reached the semi-finals of both the 100 and 200 metres at the
European Championships in Stuttgart. In the 200 m, an event that she rarely contested. she ran a lifetime best of 22.92 secs. During her career, Oakes won four
WAAAs National titles and five UK National titles. As of 2022, her legal 100 m best (11.20) ranks her 18th on the UK all-time list, her 200 m best (22.92) ranks her 30th, while her 60 m best (7.21) ranks her 12th. While Oakes competed at the highest level for her country, she also held down a full-time job. This is in contrast to today's athletes, who through lottery funding and sponsorship are able to train and compete without distraction. She is married to fellow Olympic bronze medallist
Gary Oakes. == Personal bests ==