Wilma Rudolph

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|- | style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;color:inherit;" | || style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;" | 1960 Rome || style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;" | 100 m {{MedalGoldWilma Rudolph Runner

Born: 23 June 1940 Died: 12 November 1994 (brain cancer) Birthplace: Clarksville, Tennessee Best known as: The first American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics Wilma Rudolph sprinted to three gold medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, becoming the first woman from the United States to win three golds in one Olympics. Rudolph, an African-American, won the 100 meter dash and the 200 meter dash and anchored the winning 400 meter relay team. Born to a large, poor family in Tennessee, Rudolph battled polio, scarlet fever and pneumonia as a child and for a few years lost the use of one leg. By the time she was a teenager she was 5' 11" and an outstanding basketball player. She began sprinting with a team from Tennessee State University when she was still in high school, and earned a bronze medal as a member of a relay team in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne before earning triple gold four years later. In 1973 she was inducted into the Black Athletes Hall of Fame, and in 1974 she was named to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. Her 1977 autobiography was titled Wilma. |1960 Rome | 200 m}}

|- | style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;color:inherit;" | || style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;" | 1960 Rome || style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;" | 4 x 100 m relay

|- | style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;color:inherit;" | || style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;" | 1956 Melbourne || style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;" | 4 x 100 m relay |}

Wilma Glodean Rudolph (June 23, 1940 – November 12, 1994) was an American athlete, and in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games, despite running on a sprained ankle at the time. A track and field champion, she elevated women's track to a major presence in the United States.

The powerful sprinter emerged from the 1960 Rome Olympics as "The Tornado," the fastest woman on earth. The Italians nicknamed her "La Gazzella Nera" (the Black Gazelle); to the French she was "La Perle Noire" (The Black Pearl).

Athletic highlights

In 1952, 12-year-old Wilma Rudolph finally achieved her dream of shedding her handicap and becoming like other children. Wilma's older sister was on a basketball team, and Wilma vowed to follow in her footsteps. While in high school, Wilma was on the basketball team when she was spotted by Tennessee State track and field coach Edward S. Temple. Being discovered by Temple was a major break for a young athlete. The day he saw the tenth grader for the first time, he knew he had found a natural athlete. Wilma had already gained some track experience on Burt High School's track team two years before, mostly as a way to keep busy between basketball seasons.

While attending Burt High School, Rudolph became a basketball star, setting state records for scoring and leading her team to the state championship. By the time she was 16, she earned a berth on the U.S. Olympic track and field team and came home from the 1956 Melbourne Games with an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 × 100-meter relay.

At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome she won three Olympic titles; the 100 m, 200 m and the 4 × 100 m relay. As the temperature climbed toward 110 degrees, 80,000 spectators jammed the Stadio Olimpico. Rudolph ran the 100-meter dash in an impressive 11 seconds flat. However the time was not credited as a world record because it was wind-aided. She also won the 200-meter dash in 23.2 seconds, a new Olympic record. After these twin triumphs, she was being hailed throughout the world as "the fastest woman in history". Finally, on September 11, 1960, she combined with Tennessee State teammates Martha Hudson, Lucinda Williams and Barbara Jones to win the 400-meter relay in 44.5 seconds, setting a world record. Rudolph had a special, personal reason to hope for victory—to pay tribute to Jesse Owens, the celebrated American athlete who had been her inspiration, also the star of the 1936 Summer Olympics, held in Berlin, Germany.

Rudolph retired from track competition in 1962 after winning two races at a U.S.–Soviet meet.

Awards and honors

Roger Maris(left) and Wilma Rudolph(right) the Associated Press Athletes of the Year

Rudolph was United Press Athlete of the Year 1960 and Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year for 1960 and 1961. Also in 1961, the year of her father's death, Rudolph won the James E. Sullivan Award, an award for the top amateur athlete in the United States, and visited President John F. Kennedy.

She was voted into the National Black Sports and Entertainment Hall of Fame in 1973 and the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1974.

She was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983, honored with the National Sports Award in 1993, and inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1994.

Career and family

In 1963, Rudolph was granted a full scholarship to Tennessee State University where she ultimately received her bachelor's degree in elementary education. After her athletic career, Rudolph worked as a teacher at Cobb Elementary School, coaching track at Burt High School, and as a sports commentator on national television.

Wilma married her high school sweetheart Robert Eldridge in 1963, and had four children: Yolanda (b. 1958), Djuanna (b. 1964), Robert Jr. (b. 1965) and Xurry (b. 1971). Wilma and Eldridge later divorced.

Death

In July 1994, shortly after her mother’s death, Wilma Rudolph was diagnosed with brain and throat cancer. On November 12, 1994, at age 54, she died of cancer in her home in Brentwood, Tennessee. At the time of her death, she had four children, eight grandchildren, and over 100 nieces and nephews. Thousands of mourners filled Tennessee State University's Kean Hall on November 17, 1994, for the memorial service in her honor. Others attended the funeral at Clarksville's First Baptist Church. Across Tennessee, the state flag flew at half-mast.

Nine months after Wilma's death, Tennessee State University, on August 11, 1995, dedicated its new six-story dormitory the "Wilma G. Rudolph Residence Center." A black marble marker was placed on her grave in Clarksville's Foster Memorial Garden Cemetery by the Wilma Rudolph Memorial Commission on November 21, 1995.

Legacy

File:WilmaRudolphStamp23.jpg

2004 US Postage Stamp

In 1994, Wilma Rudolph Boulevard was the name given to the portion of U.S. Route 79 in Clarksville, Tennessee.

The Women's Sports Foundation Wilma Rudolph Courage Award is presented to a female athlete who exhibits extraordinary courage in her athletic performance, demonstrates the ability to overcome adversity, makes significant contributions to sports and serves as an inspiration and role model to those who face challenges, overcomes them and strives for success at all levels. This award was first given in 1996 to Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

A life-size statue of Rudolph, hand-crafted from bronze, stands at the southern end of the Cumberland RiverWalk at the base of the Pedestrian Overpass, College Street and Riverside Drive, in Clarksville.

In 2000 Sports Illustrated magazine ranked Rudolph as number one in its listing of the top fifty greatest sports figures in twentieth-century Tennessee.

In 2004, the United States Postal Service issued a 23 cent postage stamp in recognition of her accomplishments.

Resources

• Biracee, Tom. Wilma Rudolph, Holloway House Publishing Company; (June 1990) - ISBN 0870675656
• Braun, Eric. Wilma Rudolph, Capstone Press, (2005) - ISBN 0736842349
• Coffey, Wayne R. Wilma Rudolph, Blackbirch Press, (1993) - ISBN 1567110045
• Conrad, David. Stick to It!: The Story of Wilma Rudolph, Compass Point Books (August 2002) - ISBN 0756503841
• Harper, Jo. Wilma Rudolph: Olympic Runner (Childhood of Famous Americans), Aladdin (January 6, 2004) - ISBN 0606297391
• Krull, Kathleen. Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman, Harcourt *Children's Books; Library Binding edition (April 1, 1996) - ISBN 0152012672
• Maraniss, David. Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed The World, Simon & Schuster, (2008) - ISBN 1416534083
• Ruth, Amy. Wilma Rudolph, Lerner Publications (February 2000) - ISBN 082254976X
• Schraff, Anne E. Wilma Rudolph: The Greatest Woman Sprinter in History, Enslow Publishers, (2004) - ISBN 0766022919
• Sherrow, Victoria. Wilma Rudolph (On My Own Biographies), Carolrhoda Books (April 2000) - ISBN 1575052466
• Smith, Maureen Margaret. Wilma Rudolph: A Biography, Greenwood Press, (2006) - ISBN 0313333076
• Streissguth, Tom. Wilma Rudolph, Turnaround Publisher, (2007) - ISBN 0822566931

External links

• Biography from "Women in History"
• Whitehouse Kids, Wilma Rudolph
• Sports Heros, Wilma Rudolph
• Wilma Rudolph Joins DePauw Staff
• Wilma Rudolph's story on the website of the 2008 Summer Olympics