Wilma Rudolph - Wikipedia

American athlete (1940–1994) Wilma Rudolph

Rudolph in 1960
Personal information
Full name	Wilma Glodean Rudolph[1]
Nickname(s)	Skeeter[2]The Black GazelleThe TornadoThe Black PearlThe FlashThe Track Star
Born	Wilma Glodean Rudolph(1940-06-23)June 23, 1940Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	November 12, 1994(1994-11-12) (aged 54)Brentwood, Tennessee, U.S.
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)[1]
Weight	130 lb (59 kg)[1]
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Track and field
Club	TSU Tigerbelles, Nashville
Retired	1962
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals	1956 Summer Olympics1960 Summer Olympics
Personal bests	100 m: 11.0h (Rome, Italy, September 2, 1960; Olympic final, wind-assisted +2.8 m/s) 200 m: 22.9h (Corpus Christi, Texas, USA, July 9, 1960; wind-assisted +1.4 m/s) 4×100 m relay: 44.3h (Moscow, USSR, July 15, 1961; wind-assisted) 60-yard dash: 6.9 (Los Angeles, USA, January 22, 1961; World Indoor Record)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1960 Rome 100 m 1960 Rome 200 m 1960 Rome 4 × 100 m relay 1956 Melbourne 4 × 100 m relay

Wilma Glodean Rudolph (June 23, 1940 – November 12, 1994) was an American sprinter who overcame polio as a child and went on to become a world-record-holding Olympic champion and international sports icon in track and field following her successes in the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games. Rudolph competed in the 200-meter dash and won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100-meter relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics at Melbourne, Australia. She also won three gold medals, in the 100- and 200-meter individual events and the 4 × 100-meter relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy.[3] Rudolph was acclaimed as the fastest woman in the world in the 1960s; she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games.[4][5][6]

With the worldwide television coverage of the 1960 Summer Olympics, Rudolph became an international star, along with other Olympic athletes such as Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali), Oscar Robertson, and Rafer Johnson.

As an Olympic champion in the early 1960s, Rudolph was among the most highly visible black women in America and abroad. She became a role model for black and female athletes; her Olympic successes helped elevate women's track and field in the United States. Rudolph is also regarded as a civil rights and women's rights pioneer. In 1962, Rudolph retired from competition at the peak of her athletic career as the world record-holder in the 100- and 200-meter individual events and the 4 × 100-meter relays. After competing in the 1960 Summer Olympics, the 1963 graduate of Tennessee State University became an educator and coach. Rudolph died of brain and throat cancer in 1994, and her achievements are memorialized in a variety of tributes, including a U.S. postage stamp, documentary films, and a made-for-television movie, as well as in numerous publications, especially books for young readers.

Early life and education

[edit]

Wilma Rudolph was born prematurely to Blanche Rudolph at 4.5 pounds (2.0 kg) on June 23, 1940, in Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee (now part of Clarksville).[1][7] She was the 20th of 22 children from her father Ed Rudolph's two marriages.[8][9][10] Shortly after Wilma's birth, her family moved to Clarksville, Tennessee,[7] where she grew up and attended elementary and high school. Her father, Ed, who worked as a railway porter and did odd jobs in Clarksville, died in 1961; her mother, Blanche, worked as a maid in Clarksville homes and died in 1994.[11]

Rudolph had several early childhood illnesses, including pneumonia and scarlet fever, and she contracted infantile paralysis (caused by the poliovirus) at the age of five.[12] Rudolph recovered from polio but lost strength in her left leg and foot. Physically disabled for much of her early life, Rudolph wore a leg brace until she was 12 years old. Because there was little medical care available to African American residents of Clarksville in the 1940s, Rudolph's parents sought treatment for her at the historically black Meharry Medical College (now Nashville General Hospital at Meharry) in Nashville, Tennessee, about 50 miles (80 km) from Clarksville.[13]

For two years, Rudolph and her mother made weekly bus trips to Nashville for treatments to regain the use of her weakened leg.[13] Rudolph also received subsequent at-home massage treatments four times a day from members of her family and wore an orthopedic shoe for support of her foot for another two years.[14] Because of the treatments she received at Meharry and the daily massages from her family members, Rudolph was able to overcome the debilitating effects of polio and learned to walk without a leg brace or orthopedic shoe for support by the time she was 12 years old.[7][12]

Rudolph was initially homeschooled due to the frequent illnesses that caused her to miss kindergarten and first grade. Rudolph began attending second grade at Cobb Elementary School in Clarksville in 1947 at age seven.[12] She attended Clarksville's all-black Burt High School, where Rudolph excelled in basketball and track. During her senior year of high school, Rudolph became pregnant with her first child, Yolanda, who was born in 1958, a few weeks before her enrollment at Tennessee State University in Nashville.[2][15] In college, Rudolph continued to compete in track. She also became a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. In 1963, Rudolph graduated from Tennessee State with a bachelor's degree in education. Her college education was paid by her participation in a work-study scholarship program that required Rudolph to work on the TSU campus for two hours a day.[7][12][16]

Career

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Early years

[edit]

Rudolph was first introduced to organized sports at Burt High School, the center of Clarksville's African American community. After completing several years of medical treatments to regain the use of her left leg, Rudolph chose to follow in her sister Yvonne's footsteps and began playing basketball in the eighth grade. Rudolph continued to play basketball in high school, where she became a starter on the team and began competing in track. In her sophomore year, Rudolph scored 803 points and set a new record for high school girls' basketball.[7] Rudolph's high school coach, C. C. Gray, gave her the nickname of "Skeeter" (for mosquito) because she moved so fast.[11]

While playing for her high school basketball team, Rudolph was spotted by Ed Temple, Tennessee State's track and field coach, a major break for the active young athlete. The day that Temple saw the tenth grader for the first time, he knew Rudolph was a natural athlete. She had already gained some track experience on Burt High School's track team two years earlier, mostly as a way to keep busy between basketball seasons.[17] As a high school sophomore, Rudolph competed at Alabama's Tuskegee Institute in her first major track event. Although she lost the race, Rudolph was determined to continue competing and win.[7]

Temple invited 14-year-old Rudolph to join his summer training program at Tennessee State. After attending the track camp, Rudolph won all nine events she entered at an Amateur Athletic Union track meet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[7] Under Temple's guidance, she continued to train regularly at TSU while still a high school student. Rudolph raced at amateur athletic events with TSU's women's track team, known as the Tigerbelles, for two more years before enrolling at TSU as a student in 1958.[11]

1956 Summer Olympics

[edit]

When Rudolph was 16 and a junior in high school, she attended the 1956 U.S. Olympic track and field team trials in Seattle, Washington, and qualified to compete in the 200-meter individual event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Rudolph, the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic team, was one of five TSU Tigerbelles to qualify for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.[2][18]

Rudolph was defeated in a preliminary heat of the 200-meter race at the Melbourne Olympic Games but ran the third leg of the 4 × 100 m relay.[19] The American team of Rudolph, Isabelle Daniels, Mae Faggs, and Margaret Matthews, all of whom were TSU Tigerbelles, won the bronze medal, matching the world-record time of 44.9 seconds. The British team won the silver medal. The Australian team, with the 100- and 200-meter gold medalist Betty Cuthbert as their anchor leg, won the gold medal in a time of 44.5 seconds.[11] After Rudolph returned to her Tennessee home from the Melbourne Olympic Games, Rudolph showed her high school classmates the bronze medal that she had won and decided to try to win a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy.[1][11]

In 1958, Rudolph enrolled at Tennessee State, where Temple continued as her track coach.[12] At the Pan American Games in Chicago, Illinois the following year, Rudolph won a silver medal in the 100-meter individual event, as well as a gold medal in the 4 × 100-meter relay with teammates Isabelle Dan, Barbara Joe, and Lucinda Williams. She also won the AAU 200-meter title in 1959 and defended it for four consecutive years. During her career, Rudolph also won three AAU indoor titles.[1]

1960 Summer Olympics

[edit]

While she was still a sophomore at Tennessee State, Rudolph competed in the U.S. Olympic track and field trials at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas, where she set a world record in the 200-meter dash that stood for eight years. Rudolph also qualified for the 1960 Summer Olympics in the 100-meter dash.[7]

At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, Rudolph competed in three events on a cinder track in Rome's Stadio Olimpico: the 100- and 200-meter sprints, as well as the 4 × 100-meter relay. Rudolph, who won a gold medal in each of these events, became the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympiad.[8][9]

Rudolph ran the finals in the 100-meter dash in a wind-aided time of 11.0 seconds. (The record-setting time was not credited as a world record, because the wind, at 2.75 metres (3.01 yd) per second, exceeded the maximum of 2 metres (2.2 yd).) Rudolph became the first American woman to win a gold medal in the 100-meter race since Helen Stephens did so in the 1936 Summer Olympics.[9][19] Rudolph won another gold medal in the finals of the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.0 seconds, after setting a new Olympic record of 23.2 seconds in the opening heat.[2] After these wins, she was hailed throughout the world as "the fastest woman in history."[2]

On September 7, 1960, the temperature climbed toward 40 °C (104 °F) as thousands of spectators jammed the stadium. Rudolph combined efforts with her Olympic teammates from Tennessee State—Martha Hudson, Lucinda Williams, and Barbara Jones—to win the 4 × 100-meter relays with a time of 44.5 seconds, after setting a world record of 44.4 seconds in the semifinals. Rudolph ran the anchor leg for the American team in the finals and nearly dropped the baton after a pass from Williams, but she overtook Germany's anchor leg to win the relay in a close finish.[8][11] Rudolph had a special, personal reason to hope for victory—to pay tribute to Jesse Owens, the celebrated American athlete and star of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, who had been her inspiration.[20]

Rudolph was one of the most popular athletes of the 1960 Rome Olympics and emerged from the Olympic Games as "The Tornado, the fastest woman on earth."[21] The Italians nicknamed her "La Gazzella Nera" ("The Black Gazelle").[22] The French called her "La Perle Noire" ("The Black Pearl"), as well as "La Chattanooga Choo-Choo."[21][23][24] Along with other 1960 Olympic athletes such as Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali), Oscar Robertson, and Rafer Johnson, Rudolph became an international star due to the first worldwide television coverage of the Olympics that year.[25] The 1960 Rome Olympics launched her into the public spotlight and the media cast her as America's athletic "leading lady" and a "queen," with praises of Rudolph's athletic accomplishments as well as her feminine beauty and poise.[26]

Post-Olympic career

[edit]

Rudolph returned home to Clarksville after completing a post-games European tour, where she and her Olympic teammates competed in meets in London, West Germany, the Netherlands, and at other venues in Europe. Rudolph's hometown of Clarksville celebrated "Welcome Wilma Day" on October 4, 1960, with a full day of festivities. Governor Buford Ellington had created these plans to welcome Rudolph home with a parade. Ellington was elected because he had old fashioned segregationist beliefs. This was the complete opposite of what Rudolph stood for. Rudolph heard this and refused to attend her own celebration because of it being segregated. Due to the concert of Rudolph not attending her own event, the parade was changed to be integrated. She makes everlasting history by standing up for what she believes in as this marks the first ever integrated event in her hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee. An estimated 1,100 attended the banquet in Rudolph's honor and thousands lined the city streets to watch the parade.[11][27]

Rudolph's gold-medal victories in Rome also "propelled her to become one of the most highly visible black women across the United States and around the world."[28] Her Olympic star status also "gave an enormous boost to the indoor track circuit in the months following the Olympic Games in Rome."[29] In 1961, Rudolph competed in the prestigious, Los Angeles Invitational indoor track meet, where thousands turned out to watch her run. Besides, Rudolph was invited to compete in New York Athletic Club track events and became the first woman invited to compete at the Millrose Games. She was also invited to compete at the Penn Relays and the Drake Relays, among others.[7][30]

Following Rudolph's Olympic victories, the United States Information Agency made a 10-minute documentary film, Wilma Rudolph: Olympic Champion (1961), to highlight her accomplishments on the track.[31] Rudolph's appearance in 1960 on To Tell the Truth, an American television game show, and later as a guest on The Ed Sullivan Show also helped promote her status as an iconic sports star.[32]

In 1961, Rudolph married William Ward, a North Carolina College at Durham track team member;[33] they divorced in 1963.[34] In the interim, Rudolph retired from track competition at age 22, following victories in the 100-meter and 4 × 100-meter-relay races at the U.S.–Soviet meet at Stanford University in 1962.[35] At the time of her retirement, Rudolph was still the world record-holder in the 100-meter (11.2 seconds set on July 19, 1961), 200-meter (22.9 seconds set on July 9, 1960), and 4 × 100-meter-relay events. She had also won seven national AAU sprint titles and set the women's indoor track record of 6.9 seconds in the 60-yard dash. As Rudolph explained it, she retired at the peak of her athletic career because Rudolph wanted to leave the sport while still at her best. As such, Rudolph did not compete at the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan,[19][35] saying, "If I won two gold medals, there would be something lacking. I'll stick with the glory I've already won like Jesse Owens did in 1936."[19]

After retiring from competition, Rudolph continued her education at Tennessee State and earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education in 1963.[12][16] That same year, she made a month-long trip to West Africa as a goodwill ambassador for the U.S State Department. Rudolph served as U.S. representative to the 1963 Friendship Games in Dakar, Senegal, and visited Ghana, Guinea, Mali, and Upper Volta, where she attended sporting events, visited schools, and made guest appearances on television and radio broadcasts. Rudolph also attended the premiere of the U.S. Information Agency's documentary film that highlighted her track career.[36]

In May 1963, a few weeks after returning from Africa, Rudolph participated in a civil rights protest in her hometown of Clarksville to desegregate one of the city's restaurants. Within a short time, the mayor announced that the city's public facilities, including its restaurants, would become fully integrated.[37] Rudolph also married Robert Eldridge, who had fathered her child when she was in high school, later that year. The couple had three additional children,[7][12] but divorced after 17 years of marriage.[38]

Later years

[edit]

Rudolph did not earn significant money as an amateur athlete and shifted to a career in teaching and coaching after her retirement from track competition.[8] She began as a second-grade teacher at Cobb Elementary School, which Rudolph had attended as a child, and coached track at Burt High School, where she had once been a student-athlete herself.[7]

Rudolph moved several times over the years and lived in various places such as Chicago, Illinois; Indianapolis, Indiana; Saint Louis, Missouri; Detroit, Michigan; Tennessee; California; and Maine.[18]

Rudolph's autobiography, Wilma: The Story of Wilma Rudolph, was published in 1977. It served as the basis for several other publications and films. By 2014, at least 21 books on Rudolph's life had been published for children, from pre-school youth to high school students.[39]

In addition to teaching, Rudolph worked for nonprofit organizations and government-sponsored projects that supported athletic development among American children. In Boston, Massachusetts, she became involved in the federal Job Corps program, and Rudolph served as a track specialist for Operation Champion in 1967.[7][40] In 1981, Rudolph established and led the Wilma Rudolph Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Indianapolis, Indiana, that trains youth athletes.[12] Six years later, she joined DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, as director of its women's track program and served as a consultant on minority affairs to the university's president.[41]

Rudolph went on to host a local television show in Indianapolis. She was also a publicist for Universal Studios as well as a television sports commentator for ABC Sports during the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, and lit the cauldron to open the Pan American Games in Indianapolis in 1987 in front of 80,000 spectators at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.[41][42] In 1992, two years before her untimely death, Rudolph became a vice president at Nashville's Baptist Hospital.[18]

Marriage and family

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Rudolph dated boxing legend Muhammad Ali during the early 1960s. She was married twice, with both marriages ending in divorce. On October 14, 1961, Rudolph married William "Willie" Ward, a member of the North Carolina College at Durham track team.[33] They divorced in May 1963. After her graduation from Tennessee State in 1963, Rudolph married Robert Eldridge, her high school sweetheart, with whom she already had a daughter, Yolanda, born in 1958.[16][43] Rudolph and Eldridge had four children: two daughters (Yolanda, born in 1958, and Djuanna, born in 1964) and two sons (Robert Jr., born in 1965, and Xurry, born in 1971 and died in 2025).[9][16][40][44] They divorced in 1980.

Death and legacy

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In July 1994 (shortly after her mother's death), Rudolph was diagnosed with brain cancer. She also had been diagnosed with throat cancer. Her condition deteriorated rapidly, and Rudolph died on November 12, 1994, at her home in Brentwood, a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee; she was only 54 years old.[1][45][46]

Rudolph's legacy lies in her efforts to overcome obstacles that included childhood illnesses and a physical disability to become the fastest woman runner in the world in 1960. At the 1960 Rome Olympics, Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympiad. Rudolph was one of the first role models for black and female athletes. Her Olympic success "gave a tremendous boost to women's track in the United States."[12] Rudolph's celebrity also caused gender barriers to be broken at previously all-male track and field events such as the Millrose Games.[12]

In addition to her athletic accomplishments, Rudolph is remembered for her contributions to youth, including founding and heading the Wilma Rudolph Foundation, which trains youth athletes.[12] Her life is remembered in numerous publications, especially books for young readers. Rudolph's life has been featured in documentary films and made-for-television movies too:

• Walter de Hoog directed Wilma Rudolph: Olympic Champion (1961), the United States Information Agency's ten-minute film documentary of her accomplishments on the track.[31]
• In 1977, Bud Greenspan produced Wilma (also known as The Story of Wilma Rudolph), a made-for-television docudrama adaptation of her autobiography starring Shirley Jo Finney as Rudolph and costarring Cicely Tyson, Jason Bernard, and Denzel Washington in one of his first roles.[47]
• In 2015, Positive Edge Education Ltd. commissioned Pixel Revolution Films, a United Kingdom-based film company, to produce three short inspiration dramas to be screened in schools, including one about Rudolph's life. Unlimited (2015) was written and directed by Ian and Dominic Higgins.[48]

Awards and honors

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Rudolph was named United Press International Athlete of the Year (1960) and Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year (1960 and 1961). She was also the recipient of the James E. Sullivan Award (1960) for the top amateur athlete in the United States and the Babe Didrikson Zaharias Award (1962). In addition, Rudolph had a private meeting with President John F. Kennedy in the Oval Office.[16][40] Rudolph was also honored with the National Sports Award (1993).[38]

Rudolph was inducted into several women's and sports halls of fame:

• Black Sports Hall of Fame (1973)[12]
• U.S. National Track and Field Hall of Fame (1974)[9][35]
• U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame (1983)[12]
• National Women's Hall of Fame (1994)[49]
• National Black Sports and Entertainment Hall of Fame (2001)[50][51]

In 1984, the Women's Sports Foundation selected Rudolph as one of the five greatest women athletes in the United States. In 1996, the foundation presented its first Wilma Rudolph Courage Award to Jackie Joyner-Kersee.[12][52]

In 1994, a portion of U.S. Route 79 was named Wilma Rudolph Boulevard, extending from Interstate 24, exit 4, in Clarksville to the Red River (Lynnwood-Tarpley) bridge near the Kraft Street intersection.[38] On November 21, 1995, the Wilma Rudolph Memorial Commission placed a black marble marker at her grave site in Edgefield Missionary Baptist Church.[40] In April 1996, a life-size bronze statue of Rudolph was erected "at the southern end of the Cumberland River Walk at the base of the Pedestrian Overpass" at College Street and Riverside Drive in Clarksville.[53]

In 2012, the city of Clarksville, Tennessee built the Wilma Rudolph Event Center, located at Liberty Park on Cumberland Drive. The life-size bronze statue was moved there from its previous location at Riverside Drive, and stands near the entrance of the building.

On December 2, 1980, Tennessee State University named its indoor track in Rudolph's honor.[18] On August 11, 1995 (nine months after Rudolph's death), Tennessee State University dedicated a new, six-story dormitory as the Wilma G. Rudolph Residence Center. The building, which includes a computer lab, beauty salon, and cafeteria, houses upper class and graduate women.[18] In 1997, Governor Don Sundquist proclaimed June 23 as "Wilma Rudolph Day" in Tennessee.[40]

The December 29, 1999, issue of Sports Illustrated ranked Rudolph first on its list of the top 50 greatest sports figures of the twentieth-century from Tennessee.[54][55] ESPN ranked Rudolph forty-first in its listing of the twentieth century's greatest athletes.[38]

Following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Berlin in 1994, Berlin American High School (BAHS) was turned over to the people of Berlin and became the "Gesamtschule Am Hegewinkel". The school was renamed the "Wilma Rudolph Oberschule" in her honor in the summer of 2000.[56]

On July 14, 2004, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 23-cent postage stamp, the fifth in its Distinguished Americans series, in recognition of Rudolph's accomplishments.[57]

See also

[edit]

• Sport of athletics portal

Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g "Wilma Rudolph". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on November 13, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
2. ^ a b c d e "Wilma Rudolph Biography". Biography.com. A&E Television Networks. June 19, 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2017.[dead link]
3. ^ "Women on the Scene Cleveland, Ohio." Milwaukee Star, vol. VIII, no. 80, 12 Apr. 1969, p. Page 12.
4. ^ "Ethelda Bleibtrey, the trailblazer for women's swimming who was arrested due to her swimsuit". Olympics.com. June 27, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
5. ^ "Helene Madison". usopm.org. 21 July 2019. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
6. ^ Liberti, Rita (2015). (Re) Presenting Wilma Rudolph. Syracuse University Press. p. 9. ISBN 9780815633846.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l James E. Haney, "Wilma Rudolph" in Smith, Jessie Carnie, ed. (1992). Notable Black American Women. Detroit: Gale Research. pp. 958–61.
8. ^ a b c d "1960: Rudolph takes third Olympic gold". BBC. 11 September 1960. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
9. ^ a b c d e M. B. Roberts. "Rudolph ran and world went wild". ESPN. Retrieved February 9, 2017. Rudolph grew up in a poor family, the 20th of her father Ed's 22 children (from two marriages). Although she never shared a home with all her siblings and half-siblings at once, there were still plenty of brothers and sisters to serve as "lookouts" if she mischievously removed her braces. Her brothers and sisters took turns massaging her crippled leg every day. Once a week her mother Blanche, a domestic worker, drove her 90 miles roundtrip to a Nashville hospital for therapy.
10. ^ Rita Liberti and Maureen M. Smith (2015). (Re)Presenting Wilma Rudolph. Sports and Entertainment. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-8156-3384-6.
11. ^ a b c d e f g Rob Bagchi (June 1, 2012). "50 stunning Olympic moments No35: Wilma Rudolph's triple gold in 1960". The Guardian.
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Brenda Meese, "Wilma Glodean Rudolph" in Hine, Darlene Clark, Elsa Barkley Brown, and Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, eds. (1993). Black Women in American: A Historical Encyclopedia. Vol. II. Bloomington, Indiana: IU Press. pp. 992–93. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
13. ^ a b Liberti and Smith, p. 29.
14. ^ Martha Ward Plowden (1996). Olympic Black Women. Tennessee State University Library: Pelican Publishing Company. pp. 121. ISBN 1-56554-080-8.
15. ^ Liberti and Smith, pp. 124–25.
16. ^ a b c d e Smith (2006), p. xxii.
17. ^ Biracree (1988), p. 47
18. ^ a b c d e Bobby Lovett (June 20, 2016). "Wilma Rudolph and the TSU Tigerbelles" (PDF). Tennessee State University. Retrieved February 9, 2017. See also: Bobby Lovett (March 1, 2012). "Wilma Rudolph (1940–1994) and the TSU Tigerbelles". Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture Version 2 (online edition). University of Tennessee Press. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
19. ^ a b c d Larry Schwartz. "Her Roman Conquest". ESPN. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
20. ^ Biracree (1988), p. 16.
21. ^ a b Tom Biracree (1988), Wilma Rudolph, p. 82.
22. ^ Jan Onofrio (1 June 1999). Tennessee Biographical Dictionary. North American Book Dist LLC. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-403-09700-5.
23. ^ "The Fastest Female". Time Time. September 19, 1960. Archived from the original on March 6, 2007. Retrieved February 9, 2017.(subscription required)
24. ^ "'Sportin Life' with Dennis J. Harrington Wilma Rudolph' a Sprinter Named Desire'." Chicago Metro News, 12 July 1975, p. PAGE 18.
25. ^ Amy Ruth (2000). Wilma Rudolph. New York: Lerner Publications. pp. 34, 61. ISBN 978-0-8225-4976-5. See also: Carroll Van West (1998). Tennessee Encyclopedia of History & Culture. Nashville: Tennessee Historical Society and Rutledge Hill Press. p. 813. ISBN 1558535993.
26. ^ Liberti and Smith, pp. 42, 46.
27. ^ Liberti and Smith, pp. 18–19, 39.
28. ^ Liberti and Smith, p. 13.
29. ^ Liberti and Smith, p. 45.
30. ^ Liberti and Smith, pp. 49–50, 55.
31. ^ a b Liberti and Smith, pp. 83–85.
32. ^ Liberti and Smith, pp. 16, 42, 46.
33. ^ a b The Eagle. Vol. 1960. Durham: North Carolina Central University. 1960.
34. ^ Liberti and Smith, p. 98.
35. ^ a b c "Wilma Rudolph". USA Track and Field. Archived from the original on April 23, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
36. ^ Liberti and Smith, pp. 91–94.
37. ^ Liberti and Smith, pp. 88, 96.
38. ^ a b c d Smith (2006), p. xxiii.
39. ^ Liberti and Smith, pp. 14–15.
40. ^ a b c d e "Wilma Rudolph biography". Women in History. Archived from the original on 2012-11-04. Retrieved June 11, 2007.
41. ^ a b "Olympic Gold Medalist Wilma Rudolph Joins DePauw Team". DePauw University. January 14, 1987. Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
42. ^ Wilma L. Moore (Fall 2012). "Everyday People: Champions and History Makers". Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History. 24 (4). Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society: 26–29.
43. ^ Anita Verschoth (September 7, 1964). "Slight Change Of Pace For Wilma". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on November 16, 2013.
44. ^ Charles Chamberlain (February 22, 1973). "Will Wilma Rudolph Eldridge's Daughter Add To Three Olympic Gold Medals Her Mom Won In International Competition?". Gettysburg Times: 14. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
45. ^ Amy Ruth (2000). Wilma Rudolph. Twenty-First Century Books. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-8225-4976-5.
46. ^ Maureen Margaret Smith (2006). Wilma Rudolph: A Biography. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313333076.
47. ^ Wilma at IMDb
48. ^ Unlimited at IMDb
49. ^ "Wilma Rudolph". National Women's Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
50. ^ Amy Waldman (August 29, 2001). "Black Hall of Fame Is Honoring Entertainment and Sports Stars". The New York Times. Retrieved February 9, 2017. "Black Sports and Entertainment Hall of Fame". UPI Archives. UPI. August 30, 2001. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
51. ^ "National Black Sports and Entertainment Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved July 16, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). harlemdiscover.com
52. ^ "Wilma Rudolph Courage Award". Women's Sports Foundation. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
53. ^ "What To See: Wilma Rudolph Statue". Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council. August 4, 2009. Archived from the original on August 4, 2009. Retrieved February 9, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
54. ^ "The Master List: The 50 Greatest Sports Figures of the Century from Each of the 50 States". Sports Illustrated. December 29, 1999. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
55. ^ Lovett, Bobby. "Wilma Rudolph (1940–1994) and the TSU Tigerbelles". Archived from the original on October 30, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
56. ^ "Wilma-Rudolph-Oberschule". Archived from the original on July 27, 2009. Retrieved March 30, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). be.schule.de.
57. ^ "Postal Service Honors Wilma Rudolph with 'Distinguished America". DePauw University. July 14, 2004. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2017.

References

[edit]

• "1960: Rudolph takes third Olympic gold". BBC. 11 September 1960. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
• Bagchi, Rob (June 1, 2012). "50 stunning Olympic moments No. 35: Wilma Rudolph's triple gold in 1960". The Guardian. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
• Biography.com Editors (June 17, 2016). "Wilma Rudolph Biography". A&E Television Networks. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2017. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
• Biracree, Tom (1988). Wilma Rudolph: Champion Athlete. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN 1555466753.
• "Black Sports and Entertainment Hall of Fame". UPI Archives. UPI. August 30, 2001. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
• Braun, Eric (2005). Wilma Rudolph. Capstone Press. ISBN 0-7368-4234-9.
• Chamberlain, Charles (February 22, 1973). "Will Wilma Rudolph Eldridge's Daughter Add To Three Olympic Gold Medals Her Mom Won In International Competition?". The Gettysburg Times. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: 14. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
• Coffey, Wayne R. (1993). Wilma Rudolph. Blackbirch Press. ISBN 1-56711-004-5.
• Conrad, David (2002). Stick to It!: The Story of Wilma Rudolph. Compass Point Books. ISBN 0-7565-0384-1.
• The Eagle. Vol. 1960. Durham: North Carolina Central University. 1960.
• "The Fastest Female". Time. September 19, 1960. Archived from the original on March 6, 2007. Retrieved February 9, 2017.(subscription required)
• Haney, James E., "Wilma Rudolph" in Smith, Jessie Carnie, ed. (1992). Notable Black American Women. Detroit: Gale Research. pp. 958–61.
• Harper, Jo. Wilma Rudolph: Olympic Runner (Childhood of Famous Americans), Aladdin (January 6, 2004) – ISBN 0-606-29739-1
• Krull, Kathleen. Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman, Harcourt * Children's Books; Library Binding edition (April 1, 1996) – ISBN 0-15-201267-2
• Liberti, Rita, and Maureen M. Smith (2015). (Re)Presenting Wilma Rudolph. Sports and Entertainment. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-3384-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Lovett, Bobby L. (June 20, 2016). "Wilma Rudolph and the TSU Tigerbelles" (PDF). Tennessee State University. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
• Lovett, Bobby L. (February 24, 2011). "Wilma Rudolph (1940–1994) and the TSU Tigerbelles". Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture Version 2 (online edition). University of Tennessee Press. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
• Maraniss, David (2008). Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed The World. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-3408-2.
• "The Master List: The 50 Greatest Sports Figures of the Century from Each of the 50 States". Sports Illustrated. December 29, 1999. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
• Moore, Wilma L. (Fall 2012). "Everyday People: Sports Champions and History Makers". Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History. 24 (4). Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society: 26–29.
• Norwood, Arlisha. "Wilma Rudolph." National Women's History Museum. 2017.
• "Olympic Gold Medalist Wilma Rudolph Joins DePauw Team". DePauw University. January 14, 1987. Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
• Onofrio, Jan (June 1, 1999). Tennessee Biographical Dictionary. North American Book Dist LLC. ISBN 978-0-403-09700-5.
• Plowden, Martha Ward (1996). Olympic Black Women. Tennessee State University Library: Pelican Publishing Company. ISBN 1-56554-080-8.
• "Postal Service Honors Wilma Rudolph with 'Distinguished America". DePauw University. July 14, 2004. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
• Roberts, M. B. "Rudolph ran and world went wild". ESPN. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
• Ruth, Amy (2000). Wilma Rudolph. Lerner Publications. ISBN 0-8225-4976-X.
• Schraff, Anne E. (2004). Wilma Rudolph: The Greatest Woman Sprinter in History. Enslow Publishers. ISBN 0-7660-2291-9.
• Schwartz, Larry. "Her Roman Conquest". ESPN. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
• Sherrow, Victoria (2000). Wilma Rudolph. On My Own Biographies. Carolrhoda Books. ISBN 1-57505-246-6.
• Smith, Maureen Margaret (2006). Wilma Rudolph: A Biography. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313333076.
• Streissguth, Tom (2007). Wilma Rudolph. Turnaround Publisher. ISBN 978-0-8225-6693-9.
• Unlimited at IMDb
• Van West, Carroll (1998). Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Nashville: Tennessee Historical Society/Rutledge Hill Press. ISBN 1558535993.
• Waldman, Amy (August 29, 2001). "Black Hall of Fame Is Honoring Entertainment and Sports Stars". The New York Times. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
• "What To See: Wilma Rudolph Statue". Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council. August 4, 2009. Archived from the original on August 4, 2009. Retrieved February 9, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
• Wilma at IMDb
• "Wilma Rudolph". National Women's Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
• "Wilma Rudolph". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on November 13, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
• "Wilma Rudolph". USA Track and Field. Archived from the original on April 23, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
• "Wilma Rudolph biography". Women in History. Archived from the original on 2012-11-04. Retrieved June 11, 2007.
• "Wilma Rudolph Courage Award". Women's Sports Foundation. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved February 9, 2017.

Further reading

[edit]

• Lansbury, Jennifer. A spectacular leap: black women athletes in twentieth-century America. University of Arkansas Press, 2014, Fayetteville. ISBN 9781557286581.

External links

[edit] Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wilma Rudolph.

• Wilma Rudolph at World Athletics
• Wilma Rudolph at www.USATF.org
• Wilma Rudolph at the USATF Hall of Fame (archived)
• Wilma Rudolph at Olympics.com
• Wilma Rudolph at the Team USA Hall of Fame
• Wilma Rudolph at Olympedia
• Wilma Rudolph at the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame
• Wilma Rudolph at InterSportStats
• Wilma Rudolph at the Team USA Hall of Fame
• Wilma Rudolph at IMDb 
• Wilma Rudolph, Whitehouse Kids
• Sports Heroes: Wilma Rudolph Archived 2010-02-05 at the Wayback Machine, My Hero Project
• Wilma Rudolph at Find a Grave
• Wilma Rudolph, 2008 Summer Olympics website
• Norwood, Arlisha. "Wilma Rudolph". National Women's History Museum. 2017.

v t e Olympic champions in women's 100 metres

1928:  Betty Robinson (USA) 1932:  Stanisława Walasiewicz (POL) 1936:  Helen Stephens (USA) 1948:  Fanny Blankers-Koen (NED) 1952:  Marjorie Jackson (AUS) 1956:  Betty Cuthbert (AUS) 1960:  Wilma Rudolph (USA) 1964:  Wyomia Tyus (USA) 1968:  Wyomia Tyus (USA) 1972:  Renate Stecher (GDR) 1976:  Annegret Richter (FRG) 1980:  Lyudmila Kondratyeva (URS) 1984:  Evelyn Ashford (USA) 1988:  Florence Griffith Joyner (USA) 1992:  Gail Devers (USA) 1996:  Gail Devers (USA) 2000: not awarded 2004:  Yulia Nestsiarenka (BLR) 2008:  Shelly-Ann Fraser (JAM) 2012:  Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (JAM) 2016:  Elaine Thompson (JAM) 2020:  Elaine Thompson-Herah (JAM) 2024:  Julien Alfred (LCA)

v t e Olympic champions in women's 200 metres

1948:  Fanny Blankers-Koen (NED) 1952:  Marjorie Jackson (AUS) 1956:  Betty Cuthbert (AUS) 1960:  Wilma Rudolph (USA) 1964:  Edith McGuire (USA) 1968:  Irena Szewińska (POL) 1972:  Renate Stecher (GDR) 1976:  Bärbel Eckert (GDR) 1980:  Bärbel Eckert (GDR) 1984:  Valerie Brisco-Hooks (USA) 1988:  Florence Griffith Joyner (USA) 1992:  Gwen Torrence (USA) 1996:  Marie-José Pérec (FRA) 2000:  Pauline Davis-Thompson (BAH) 2004:  Veronica Campbell Brown (JAM) 2008:  Veronica Campbell Brown (JAM) 2012:  Allyson Felix (USA) 2016:  Elaine Thompson (JAM) 2020:  Elaine Thompson-Herah (JAM) 2024:  Gabrielle Thomas (USA)

v t e Olympic champions in women's 4 × 100 metres relay

1928:  Rosenfeld, Smith, Bell, Cook (CAN) 1932:  Carew, Furtsch, Rogers, von Bremen (USA) 1936:  Bland, Rogers, Robinson, Stephens (USA) 1948:  Stad-de Jong, Witziers-Timmer, van der Kade-Koudijs, Blankers-Koen (NED) 1952:  Faggs, B. Jones, Moreau, Hardy (USA) 1956:  de la Hunty, Croker, Mellor, Cuthbert (AUS) 1960:  Hudson, Williams, B. Jones, Rudolph (USA) 1964:  Ciepły, Kirszenstein, Górecka, Kłobukowska (POL) 1968:  Ferrell, Bailes, Netter, Tyus (USA) 1972:  Krause, Mickler, Richter, Rosendahl (FRG) 1976:  Göhr, Stecher, Bodendorf, Wöckel (GDR) 1980:  Müller, Wöckel, Auerswald, Göhr (GDR) 1984:  Brown, Bolden, Cheeseborough, Ashford (USA) 1988:  Brown, Echols, Griffith Joyner, Ashford, Young (USA) 1992:  Ashford, E. Jones, Guidry, Torrence, Finn (USA) 1996:  Devers, Miller, Gaines, Torrence, Guidry (USA) 2000:  Fynes, Sturrup, Davis-Thompson, Ferguson, Lewis (BAH) 2004:  Lawrence, Simpson, Bailey, Campbell, McDonald (JAM) 2008:  Borlée, Mariën, Ouédraogo, Gevaert (BEL) 2012:  Madison, Felix, Knight, Jeter, Tarmoh, L. Williams (USA) 2016:  Bartoletta, Felix, Bowie, Gardner, Akinosun (USA) 2020:  B. Williams, Thompson-Herah, Fraser-Pryce, Jackson, Morrison, Burchell (JAM) 2024:  Jefferson, Terry, Thomas, Richardson (USA)

v t e USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in women's 60 m (40 yards, 50 m, 50 yards, 60 yards, 55 m)
1927–1979Amateur Athletic Union	1927:  Rosa Grosse (CAN), Eleanor Egg (2nd) 1928: Katherine Mearls 1929: Mary Carew 1930: Mary Carew 1931: Mary Carew 1932: Mary Carew 1933: Pearl Young 1934:  Stanisława Walasiewicz (POL), Louise Stokes (3rd) 1935: Helen Stephens 1936: Helen Stephens 1937: Helen Stephens 1941: Jean Lane 1945: Alice Coachman 1946: Alice Coachman 1948: Juanita Watson 1949: Dolores Dwyer 1950: Dolores Dwyer 1951: Catherine Hardy Lavender 1952: Dolores Dwyer 1953: Mabel Landry 1954: Mabel Landry 1955: Isabelle Daniels 1956: Isabelle Daniels 1957: Isabelle Daniels 1958: Isabelle Daniels 1959: Wilma Rudolph 1960: Wilma Rudolph 1961: Willye White 1962: Willye White 1963: Willye White 1964: Debbie Thompson 1965: Wyomia Tyus 1966: Wyomia Tyus 1967: Wyomia Tyus 1968: Barbara Ferrell 1969: Barbara Ferrell 1970:  Chi Cheng (TPE), Iris Davis (2nd) 1971: Pat Hawkins 1972: Iris Davis 1973: Iris Davis 1974: Theresa Montgomery 1975:  Alice Annum (GHA), Angel Doyle (2nd) 1976: Lisa Hopkins 1977: Brenda Morehead 1978: Brenda Morehead 1979: Evelyn Ashford
1980–1992The Athletics Congress	1980: Evelyn Ashford 1981: Evelyn Ashford 1982: Evelyn Ashford 1983: Evelyn Ashford 1984: Alice Brown 1985: Alice Brown 1986: Jeanette Bolden 1987:  Anelia Nuneva (BUL), Jeanette Bolden (2nd) 1988: Evelyn Ashford, Gwen Torrence 1989: Gwen Torrence 1990: Michelle Finn-Burrell 1991: Michelle Finn-Burrell 1992: Michelle Finn-Burrell
1993–presentUSA Track & Field	1993: Gail Devers 1994: Gwen Torrence 1995: Gwen Torrence 1996: Gwen Torrence 1997: Gail Devers 1998:  Christy Opara-Thompson (NGR), Carlette Guidry-White (2nd) 1999: Gail Devers 2000: Carlette Guidry-White 2001: Chryste Gaines 2002: Chryste Gaines 2003: Angela Williams 2004: Gail Devers 2005: Angela Daigle 2006: Me'Lisa Barber 2007: Hasani Roseby 2008: Angela Williams 2009: Me'Lisa Barber 2010: Carmelita Jeter 2011: Alexandria Anderson 2012: Tianna Bartoletta 2013: Barbara Pierre 2014: Tianna Bartoletta 2015: Tianna Bartoletta 2016: Barbara Pierre 2017: Morolake Akinosun 2018: Javianne Oliver 2019: Shania Collins 2020: Mikiah Brisco 2022: Mikiah Brisco 2023: Aleia Hobbs 2024: Aleia Hobbs
Notes	* Distances have varied as follows: 40 yards (1927–32), 50 meters (1933–54), 50 yards (1956–64), 60 yards (1965–86), 55 meters (1987–90)

v t e USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in women's 200 m (220 yards, 200 yards, 240 yards)
1927–1979Amateur Athletic Union	1928: Irene Moran 1929: Catherine Donovan 1930:  Stanisława Walasiewicz (POL), Catherine Capp (2nd) 1931:  Stanisława Walasiewicz (POL), Catherine Capp (2nd) 1932: Catherine Capp 1933: Annette Rogers 1934:  Stanisława Walasiewicz (POL), Annette Rogers (2nd) 1935:  Stanisława Walasiewicz (POL), Mary Jane Santschi (2nd) 1936: Annette Rogers 1937: Helen Stephens 1941: Jean Lane 1945:  Stanisława Walasiewicz (POL), Nell Jackson (2nd) 1946:  Stanisława Walasiewicz (POL), Juanita Watson (2nd) 1948: Audrey Patterson 1949: Mae Faggs 1950: Mae Faggs 1951: Mae Faggs 1952: Mae Faggs 1953: Janet Moreau 1954: Mae Faggs 1955: Alfrances Lyman 1956: Mae Faggs 1957: Lucinda Williams 1958: Isabelle Daniels 1959: Lucinda Williams 1960: Wilma Rudolph 1961: Vivian Brown 1962: Vivian Brown 1963: Marilyn White 1964: Valerie Carter 1965: Edith McGuire 1966: Edith McGuire 1967:  Una Morris (JAM), Kathy Hammond (2nd) 1968:  Vilma Charlton (JAM), Nancy Beeson (2nd) 1969: Barbara Ferrell 1970: Diane Kummer 1971: Esther Stroy 1972: Esther Stroy 1973: Rosalyn Bryant 1974: Linda Cordy, Theresa Montgomery 1975: Rosalyn Bryant 1976: Pamela Jiles 1977: Rosalyn Bryant 1978:  Freida Nichols (BAR), Theresa Montgomery (2nd) 1979: Chandra Cheeseborough
1980–1992The Athletics Congress	1980: Wanda Hooker 1981: Chandra Cheeseborough 1982: Chandra Cheeseborough 1983: Chandra Cheeseborough 1984: Valerie Brisco-Hooks 1985: Valerie Brisco-Hooks 1986:  Marita Koch (GDR), Grace Jackson (2nd) 1987:  Grace Jackson (JAM), Valerie Brisco-Hooks (2nd) 1988:  Grace Jackson (JAM), Terri Dendy (3rd) 1989: Alice Jackson 1990:  Grace Jackson (JAM), Lamonda Miller (3rd) 1991: Rochelle Stevens 1992: Dyan Webber
1993–presentUSA Track & Field	1993: Rochelle Stevens 1994: Gwen Torrence 1995: Carlette Guidry-White 1996: Gwen Torrence 1997: Tameka Roberts 1998: Tameka Roberts 1999: Zundra Feagin-Alexander 2000: Nanceen Parry 2001: LaTasha Jenkins 2002: Willisa Heintz 2003: Allyson Felix 2004: Crystal Cox
Notes	* Distances have varied as follows: 220 yards (1928-32, 1945-46, 1949-64, 1966-68, 1970-86), 200 yards (1965), 240 yards (1967).

v t e US National Championship winners in women's 100-meter dash
1923–1979Amateur Athletic Union	1923–1924: Frances Ruppert 1925: Helen Filkey 1926: Rosa Grosse 1927–1928OT: Elta Cartwright 1929: Betty Robinson 1930: Stella Walsh 1931: Eleanor Egg 1932OT: Wilhelmina von Bremen 1933: Annette Rogers 1934: not held 1935–1936: Helen Stephens 1937: Claire Isicson 1938: Lula Hymes 1939: Olive Hasenfus 1940–1941: Jean Lane 1942: Alice Coachman 1943–1944: Stella Walsh 1945–1946: Alice Coachman 1947: Juanita Watson 1948: Stella Walsh 1949–1950: Jean Patton 1951: Mary McNabb 1952: Catherine Hardy 1953–1954: Barbara Jones 1955–1956: Mae Faggs 1957: Barbara Jones 1958: Margaret Matthews 1959–1962: Wilma Rudolph 1963: Edith McGuire 1964–1966: Wyomia Tyus 1967: Barbara Ferrell 1968: Margaret Bailes 1969: Barbara Ferrell 1970: Chi Cheng (TWN) * Iris Davis 1971: Iris Davis 1972: Alice Annum (GHA) * (3) Iris Davis 1973: Iris Davis 1974: Renaye Bowen 1975: Rosalyn Bryant 1976: Chandra Cheeseborough 1977: Evelyn Ashford 1978: Leleith Hodges (JAM) * Brenda Morehead 1979: Evelyn Ashford
1980–1992The Athletics Congress	1980: Alice Brown 1981–1983: Evelyn Ashford 1984 Merlene Ottey (JAM) * Alice Brown 1985: Merlene Ottey (JAM) * Pam Marshall 1986: Pam Marshall 1987: Diane Williams 1988: Sheila Echols 1989: Dawn Sowell 1990: Michelle Finn 1991: Carlette Guidry 1992OT: Gwen Torrence
1993–presentUSA Track & Field	1993–1994: Gail Devers 1995–1996OT: Gwen Torrence 1997–1998: Marion Jones 1999: Inger Miller 2000OT: Marion Jones 2001–2002: Chryste Gaines 2003: Torri Edwards 2004OT: LaTasha Colander 2005: Me'Lisa Barber 2006: Lauryn Williams 2007: Torri Edwards 2008OT: Muna Lee 2009: Carmelita Jeter 2010: Allyson Felix 2011–2012OT: Carmelita Jeter 2013: English Gardner 2014: Tianna Bartoletta 2015: Tori Bowie 2016OT: English Gardner 2017: Tori Bowie 2018: Aleia Hobbs 2019: Teahna Daniels 20212020 OT: Javianne Oliver 2022: Melissa Jefferson 2023: Sha'Carri Richardson 2024OT: Sha'Carri Richardson 2025: Melissa Jefferson-Wooden
Notes	OT: 1928, 1932, and since 1992, championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event. 2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Distance: The event was over 100 yards until 1927; from 1929 to 1931, 1955, 1957 to 1958, 1961 to 1962, 1965 to 1966, 1969 to 1970 and 1973 to 1974.

v t e US National Championship winners in women's 200-meter dash
1926–1979Amateur Athletic Union	1926: Frances Keddie 1927: Ellen Brough 1928OT: Florence Wright 1929: Maybelle Gilliland 1930–1931: Stella Walsh 1932OT–1933 Olive Hasenfus 1934: not held 1935: Helen Stephens 1936: Beverly Hobbs 1937: Gertrude Johnson 1938: Fanny Vitale 1939–1940: Stella Walsh 1941: Jean Lane 1942–1948: Stella Walsh 1949–1950: Nell Jackson 1951: Jean Patton 1952: Catherine Hardy 1953: Dolores Dwyer 1954–1956: Mae Faggs 1957: Isabelle Daniels 1958: Lucinda Williams 1959: Isabelle Daniels 1960: Wilma Rudolph 1961: Lacey O'Neal 1962–1963: Vivian Brown 1964–1965: Edith McGuire 1966: Wyomia Tyus 1967: Diana Wilson 1968: Wyomia Tyus 1969: Barbara Ferrell 1970: Chi Cheng (TWN) * Williomae Fergerson 1971: Raelene Boyle (AUS) * Kathie Lawson 1972: Alice Annum (GHA) * (3) Pamela Greene 1973: Mable Fergerson 1974: Alice Annum (GHA) * Fran Sichting 1975: Debra Armstrong 1976: Brenda Morehead 1977–1979: Evelyn Ashford
1980–1992The Athletics Congress	1980: Karen Hawkins 1981: Evelyn Ashford 1982: Merlene Ottey (JAM) * Florence Griffith 1983: Evelyn Ashford 1984 Merlene Ottey (JAM) * (3) Pam Marshall 1985 Merlene Ottey (JAM) * Pam Marshall 1986–1987: Pam Marshall 1988: Gwen Torrence 1989: Dannette Young 1990: Grace Jackson (JAM) * Dannette Young 1991–1992OT: Gwen Torrence
1993–presentUSA Track & Field	1993: Gwen Torrence 1994: Carlette Guidry-White 1995: Gwen Torrence 1996OT: Carlette Guidry-White 1997: Inger Miller 1998–2000OT: Marion Jones 2001: LaTasha Jenkins 2002: Stephanie Durst 2003: Torri Edwards 2004OT–2005: Allyson Felix 2006: Rachelle Boone-Smith 2007–2009OT: Allyson Felix 2010: Connie Moore 2011: Shalonda Solomon 2012OT: Allyson Felix 2013: Kimberlyn Duncan 2014: Jeneba Tarmoh 2015: Jenna Prandini 2016OT: Tori Bowie 2017: Deajah Stevens 2018: Jenna Prandini 2019: Dezerea Bryant 20212020 OT: Gabrielle Thomas 2022: Abby Steiner 2023-2024: Gabrielle Thomas 2025: Melissa Jefferson-Wooden
Notes	OT: 1928, 1932, and since 1992, championships incorporated the Olympic Trials in Olympic years, otherwise held as a discrete event. Distance:The event was over 220 yards until 1932, 1955, 1957-8, 1961-3, 1965-6, 1969-70 and 1973-4 2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

v t e 1956 USA Olympic track and field team
Men's trackand road athletes	Horace Ashenfelter Thane Baker Don Bowden Lee Calhoun Phil Coleman Nick Costes Tom Courtney Josh Culbreath Glenn Davis Jack Davis Bill Dellinger Elliott Denman Dick Hart James Hewson Charles Jenkins Deacon Jones Lou Jones Johnny Kelley Leamon King (r) Henry Laskau Jim Lea Bruce MacDonald Jesse Mashburn (r) Gordon McKenzie Bobby Morrow Ira Murchison Joel Shankle Leo Sjogren Eddie Southern Arnie Sowell Lonnie Spurrier Andy Stanfield Curt Stone Dean Thackwray Max Truex Jerome Walters Adolf Weinacker Ted Wheeler
Men's field athletes	Ken Bantum Greg Bell John Bennett Milt Campbell Phil Conley Hal Connolly Ira Davis Charles Dumas Benjamin Garcia Fortune Gordien Bob Gutowski Al Hall Rafer Johnson Des Koch George Mattos Bill Nieder Parry O'Brien Al Oerter Phil Reavis Bob Richards Bill Sharpe George Shaw Vern Wilson Cy Young
Women's track athletes	Isabelle Daniels Constance Darnowski Meredith Ellis Mae Faggs Margaret Matthews (r) Barbara Mueller Irene Robertson Wilma Rudolph Lucinda Williams
Women's field athletes	Karen Anderson Earlene Brown Paula Deubel Ann Marie Flynn Pam Kurrell Marjorie Larney Margaret Matthews Mildred McDaniel Lois Testa Amelia Wershoven Willye White
Coaches	Jim Kelly (men's head coach) Frank Anderson (men's assistant coach) Bob Giegengack (men's assistant coach) Jess Mortensen (men's assistant coach) Nell Jackson (women's head coach) Boo Morcom (women's field event coach)

v t e 1960 USA Olympic track and field team
Men's trackand road athletes	John Allen Jim Beatty Alex Breckenridge Frank Budd Dyrol Burleson Lee Calhoun Les Carney Pete Close Phil Coleman Ernie Cunliffe Cliff Cushman Glenn Davis Otis Davis Bill Dellinger Jim Grelle Rudy Haluza Dick Howard Stone Johnson Deacon Jones Hayes Jones John J. Kelley Ron Laird Bruce MacDonald Willie May Gordon McKenzie Bob Mimm Tom Murphy Ray Norton Jerry Siebert Dave Sime Bob Soth Max Truex Jack Yerman Earl Young George Young Ron Zinn
Men's field athletes	William Alley Rink Babka Ed Bagdonas Terry Beucher Ralph Boston Don Bragg Al Cantello Dave Clark Dick Cochran Hal Connolly Ira Davis Charles Dumas Dave Edstrom Joe Faust Al Hall Rafer Johnson Dallas Long Ron Morris Phil Mulkey Bill Nieder Parry O'Brien Al Oerter Bo Roberson Bill Sharpe Herman Stokes John Thomas Anthony Watson
Women's track athletes	Shirley Crowder Pat Daniels Martha Hudson Barbara Jones Ernestine Pollards Irene Robertson Wilma Rudolph Jo Ann Terry Lucinda Williams
Women's field athletes	Karen Anderson Barbara Brown Earlene Brown Olga Connolly Jean Gaertner Pamela Kurrell Neomia Rogers Annie Smith Willye White
Coaches	Larry Snyder (head coach) George Eastment (assistant coach) Ralph Higgins (assistant coach) Lloyd "Bud" Winter (assistant coach) Ed Temple (women's head coach) Fran Welch (women's field event coach)

v t e IAAF Hall of Fame
Jesse Owens Abebe Bikila Paavo Nurmi Sergey Bubka Sebastian Coe Carl Lewis Emil Zátopek Al Oerter Adhemar da Silva Edwin Moses Fanny Blankers-Koen Betty Cuthbert Jackie Joyner-Kersee Wang Junxia Irena Szewińska1 Michael Johnson2 Dan O'Brien2 Babe Zaharias2 Alberto Juantorena3 Kip Keino4 Peter Snell5 Vladimir Golubnichiy6 Iolanda Balaș7 Stefka Kostadinova7 Harrison Dillard8 Marjorie Jackson8 Hannes Kolehmainen8 Natalya Lisovskaya8 Svetlana Masterkova8 Noureddine Morceli8 Parry O'Brien8 Marie-José Pérec8 Viktor Saneyev8 Yuriy Sedykh8 Daley Thompson8 Grete Waitz8 Valeriy Brumel9 Glenn Davis9 Heike Drechsler9 Hicham El Guerrouj9 Marita Koch9 Robert Korzeniowski9 Jānis Lūsis9 Bob Mathias9 Wilma Rudolph9 Shirley Strickland de la Hunty9 Lasse Virén9 Cornelius Warmerdam9
New entry 1May 17, 2012 2June 6, 2012 3June 11, 2012 4July 2, 2012 5August 4, 2012 6September 15, 2012 7October 13, 2012 8November 16, 2013 9November 21, 2014

v t e USTFCCCA Collegiate Track & Field/Cross Country Athlete Hall of Fame
Class of 2022	Jenny Barringer Ralph Boston Ron Delany Harrison Dillard Suzy Favor Charlie Greene Carlette Guidry DeHart Hubbard Vicki Huber Jackie Johnson Jackie Joyner Sally Kipyego Carl Lewis Gerry Lindgren Randy Matson Ralph Metcalfe Rodney Milburn Bobby Morrow Suleiman Nyambui Billy Olson Merlene Ottey Jesse Owens Mel Patton Steve Prefontaine Meg Ritchie Henry Rono Wilma Rudolph Jim Ryun Erick Walder John Woodruff
Class of 2023	Dyrol Burleson Michael Carter Joetta Clark Michael Conley Sheila Hudson Holli Hyche Edwin Moses Renaldo Nehemiah Sonia O'Sullivan Julie Shea Seilala Sua John Thomas Wyomia Tyus Dave Wottle
Class of 2024	Rosalyn Bryant Regina Cavanaugh Hollis Conway Bill Dellinger Benita Fitzgerald Glenn Hardin Balázs Kiss Marty Liquori Larry Myricks Louise Ritter Karl Salb Amy Skieresz Trecia-Kaye Smith Angela Williams

v t e James E. Sullivan Award winners

1930: Jones 1931: Berlinger 1932: Bausch 1933: Cunningham 1934: Bonthron 1935: Little 1936: Morris 1937: Budge 1938: Lash 1939: Burk 1940: Rice 1941: MacMitchell 1942: Warmerdam 1943: Dodds 1944: Curtis 1945: Blanchard 1946: Tucker 1947: Kelly Jr. 1948: Mathias 1949: Button 1950: Wilt 1951: Richards 1952: Ashenfelter 1953: Sa. Lee 1954: Whitfield 1955: Dillard 1956: McCormick 1957: Morrow 1958: Davis 1959: O'Brien 1960: R. Johnson 1961: Rudolph 1962: Beatty 1963: Pennel 1964: Schollander 1965: Bradley 1966: Ryun 1967: Matson 1968: Meyer 1969: Toomey 1970: Kinsella 1971: Spitz 1972: Shorter 1973: Walton 1974: Wohlhuter 1975: Shaw 1976: Jenner 1977: Naber 1978: Caulkins 1979: Thomas 1980: Heiden 1981: Lewis 1982: Decker 1983: Moses 1984: Louganis 1985: Benoit 1986: Joyner-Kersee 1987: Abbott 1988: Griffith Joyner 1989: Evans 1990: Smith 1991: Powell 1992: Blair 1993: Ward 1994: Jansen 1995: Baumgartner 1996: M. Johnson 1997: Manning 1998: Holdsclaw 1999: C. Miller & K. Miller 2000: Gardner 2001: Kwan 2002: Hughes 2003: Phelps 2004: Hamm 2005: Redick 2006: Long 2007: Tebow 2008: S. Johnson 2009: Palmeiro-Winters 2010: Lysacek 2011: Rodriguez 2012: Franklin 2013: Urschel 2014: Elliott 2015: Stewart & Reynolds 2016: Carlini 2017: Snyder 2018: Plummer 2019: Ionescu & Sp. Lee 2020: Biles & Dressel 2021: Moore 2022: Clark 2023: Clark 2024: Rodriguez

v t e Inductees to the National Women's Hall of Fame
1970–1979 1973 Jane Addams Marian Anderson Susan B. Anthony Clara Barton Mary McLeod Bethune Elizabeth Blackwell Pearl S. Buck Rachel Carson Mary Cassatt Emily Dickinson Amelia Earhart Alice Hamilton Helen Hayes Helen Keller Eleanor Roosevelt Florence Sabin Margaret Chase Smith Elizabeth Cady Stanton Helen Brooke Taussig Harriet Tubman 1976 Abigail Adams Margaret Mead Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias 1979 Dorothea Dix Juliette Gordon Low Alice Paul Elizabeth Bayley Seton
1980–1989 1981 Margaret Sanger Sojourner Truth 1982 Carrie Chapman Catt Frances Perkins 1983 Belva Lockwood Lucretia Mott 1984 Mary "Mother" Harris Jones Bessie Smith 1986 Barbara McClintock Lucy Stone Harriet Beecher Stowe 1988 Gwendolyn Brooks Willa Cather Sally Ride Mary Risteau Ida B. Wells-Barnett
1990–1999 1990 Margaret Bourke-White Barbara Jordan Billie Jean King Florence B. Seibert 1991 Gertrude Belle Elion 1993 Ethel Percy Andrus Antoinette Blackwell Emily Blackwell Shirley Chisholm Jacqueline Cochran Ruth Colvin Marian Wright Edelman Alice Evans Betty Friedan Ella Grasso Martha Wright Griffiths Fannie Lou Hamer Dorothy Height Dolores Huerta Mary Putnam Jacobi Mae Jemison Mary Lyon Mary Mahoney Wilma Mankiller Constance Baker Motley Georgia O'Keeffe Annie Oakley Rosa Parks Esther Peterson Jeannette Rankin Ellen Swallow Richards Elaine Roulet Katherine Siva Saubel Gloria Steinem Helen Stephens Lillian Wald Madam C. J. Walker Faye Wattleton Rosalyn S. Yalow Gloria Yerkovich 1994 Bella Abzug Ella Baker Myra Bradwell Annie Jump Cannon Jane Cunningham Croly Catherine East Geraldine Ferraro Charlotte Perkins Gilman Grace Hopper Helen LaKelly Hunt Zora Neale Hurston Anne Hutchinson Frances Wisebart Jacobs Susette La Flesche Louise McManus Maria Mitchell Antonia Novello Linda Richards Wilma Rudolph Betty Bone Schiess Muriel Siebert Nettie Stevens Oprah Winfrey Sarah Winnemucca Fanny Wright 1995 Virginia Apgar Ann Bancroft Amelia Bloomer Mary Breckinridge Eileen Collins Elizabeth Hanford Dole Anne Dallas Dudley Mary Baker Eddy Ella Fitzgerald Margaret Fuller Matilda Joslyn Gage Lillian Moller Gilbreth Nannerl O. Keohane Maggie Kuhn Sandra Day O'Connor Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin Pat Schroeder Hannah Greenebaum Solomon 1996 Louisa May Alcott Charlotte Anne Bunch Frances Xavier Cabrini Mary A. Hallaren Oveta Culp Hobby Wilhelmina Cole Holladay Anne Morrow Lindbergh Maria Goeppert Mayer Ernestine Louise Potowski Rose Maria Tallchief Edith Wharton 1998 Madeleine Albright Maya Angelou Nellie Bly Lydia Moss Bradley Mary Steichen Calderone Mary Ann Shadd Cary Joan Ganz Cooney Gerty Cori Sarah Grimké Julia Ward Howe Shirley Ann Jackson Shannon Lucid Katharine Dexter McCormick Rozanne L. Ridgway Edith Nourse Rogers Felice Schwartz Eunice Kennedy Shriver Beverly Sills Florence Wald Angelina Grimké Weld Chien-Shiung Wu
2000–2009 2000 Faye Glenn Abdellah Emma Smith DeVoe Marjory Stoneman Douglas Mary Dyer Sylvia A. Earle Crystal Eastman Jeanne Holm Leontine T. Kelly Frances Oldham Kelsey Kate Mullany Janet Reno Anna Howard Shaw Sophia Smith Ida Tarbell Wilma L. Vaught Mary Edwards Walker Annie Dodge Wauneka Eudora Welty Frances E. Willard 2001 Dorothy H. Andersen Lucille Ball Rosalynn Carter Lydia Maria Child Bessie Coleman Dorothy Day Marian de Forest Althea Gibson Beatrice A. Hicks Barbara Holdridge Harriet Williams Russell Strong Emily Howell Warner Victoria Woodhull 2002 Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis Ruth Bader Ginsburg Katharine Graham Bertha Holt Mary Engle Pennington Mercy Otis Warren 2003 Linda G. Alvarado Donna de Varona Gertrude Ederle Martha Matilda Harper Patricia Roberts Harris Stephanie L. Kwolek Dorothea Lange Mildred Robbins Leet Patsy Takemoto Mink Sacagawea Anne Sullivan Sheila E. Widnall 2005 Florence E. Allen Ruth Fulton Benedict Betty Bumpers Hillary Clinton Rita Rossi Colwell Mother Marianne Cope Maya Y. Lin Patricia A. Locke Blanche Stuart Scott Mary Burnett Talbert 2007 Eleanor K. Baum Julia Child Martha Coffin Pelham Wright Swanee Hunt Winona LaDuke Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Judith L. Pipher Catherine Filene Shouse Henrietta Szold 2009 Louise Bourgeois Mildred Cohn Karen DeCrow Susan Kelly-Dreiss Allie B. Latimer Emma Lazarus Ruth Patrick Rebecca Talbot Perkins Susan Solomon Kate Stoneman
2010–2019 2011 St. Katharine Drexel Dorothy Harrison Eustis Loretta C. Ford Abby Kelley Foster Helen Murray Free Billie Holiday Coretta Scott King Lilly Ledbetter Barbara A. Mikulski Donna E. Shalala Kathrine Switzer 2013 Betty Ford Ina May Gaskin Julie Krone Kate Millett Nancy Pelosi Mary Joseph Rogers Bernice Sandler Anna Schwartz Emma Willard 2015 Tenley Albright Nancy Brinker Martha Graham Marcia Greenberger Barbara Iglewski Jean Kilbourne Carlotta Walls LaNier Philippa Marrack Mary Harriman Rumsey Eleanor Smeal 2017 Matilda Cuomo Temple Grandin Lorraine Hansberry Victoria Jackson Sherry Lansing Clare Boothe Luce Aimee Mullins Carol Mutter Janet Rowley Alice Waters 2019 Gloria Allred Angela Davis Sarah Deer Jane Fonda Nicole Malachowski Rose O'Neill Louise Slaughter Sonia Sotomayor Laurie Spiegel Flossie Wong-Staal
2020–2029 2020 Aretha Franklin Barbara Hillary Barbara Rose Johns Henrietta Lacks Toni Morrison Mary Church Terrell 2022 Octavia E. Butler Judy Chicago Rebecca S. Halstead Mia Hamm Joy Harjo Emily Howland Katherine Johnson Indra Nooyi Michelle Obama 2024 Patricia Bath Ruby Bridges Elouise P. Cobell Kimberlé Crenshaw Peggy McIntosh Judith Plaskow Loretta Ross Sandy Stone Anna Wessels Williams Serena Williams

v t e AP Female Athlete of the Year winners

1931: Helene Madison 1932: Babe Didrikson Zaharias 1933: Helen Jacobs 1934: Virginia Van Wie 1935: Helen Wills 1936: Helen Stephens 1937: Katherine Rawls 1938: Patty Berg 1939: Alice Marble 1940: Alice Marble 1941: Betty Hicks 1942: Gloria Callen 1943: Patty Berg 1944: Ann Curtis 1945: Babe Didrikson Zaharias 1946: Babe Didrikson Zaharias 1947: Babe Didrikson Zaharias 1948: Fanny Blankers-Koen 1949: Marlene Hagge 1950: Babe Didrikson Zaharias 1951: Maureen Connolly 1952: Maureen Connolly 1953: Maureen Connolly 1954: Babe Didrikson Zaharias 1955: Patty Berg 1956: Pat McCormick 1957: Althea Gibson 1958: Althea Gibson 1959: Maria Bueno 1960: Wilma Rudolph 1961: Wilma Rudolph 1962: Dawn Fraser 1963: Mickey Wright 1964: Mickey Wright 1965: Kathy Whitworth 1966: Kathy Whitworth 1967: Billie Jean King 1968: Peggy Fleming 1969: Debbie Meyer 1970: Chi Cheng 1971: Evonne Goolagong 1972: Olga Korbut 1973: Billie Jean King 1974: Chris Evert 1975: Chris Evert 1976: Nadia Comăneci 1977: Chris Evert 1978: Nancy Lopez 1979: Tracy Austin 1980: Chris Evert 1981: Tracy Austin 1982: Mary Decker 1983: Martina Navratilova 1984: Mary Lou Retton 1985: Nancy Lopez 1986: Martina Navratilova 1987: Jackie Joyner-Kersee 1988: Florence Griffith Joyner 1989: Steffi Graf 1990: Beth Daniel 1991: Monica Seles 1992: Monica Seles 1993: Sheryl Swoopes 1994: Bonnie Blair 1995: Rebecca Lobo 1996: Amy Van Dyken 1997: Martina Hingis 1998: Pak Se-ri 1999: United States women's national soccer team 2000: Marion Jones 2001: Jennifer Capriati 2002: Serena Williams 2003: Annika Sörenstam 2004: Annika Sörenstam 2005: Annika Sörenstam 2006: Lorena Ochoa 2007: Lorena Ochoa 2008: Candace Parker 2009: Serena Williams 2010: Lindsey Vonn 2011: Abby Wambach 2012: Gabby Douglas 2013: Serena Williams 2014: Mo'ne Davis 2015: Serena Williams 2016: Simone Biles 2017: Katie Ledecky 2018: Serena Williams 2019: Simone Biles 2020: Naomi Osaka 2021: Candace Parker 2022: Katie Ledecky 2023: Simone Biles 2024: Caitlin Clark

v t e NAACP Image Award – Jackie Robinson Sports Award
Wilma Rudolph / Harlem Globetrotters (1988) Jackie Joyner-Kersee / Sugar Ray Robinson (1989) Roy Campanella / Anita DeFrantz (1990) Magic Johnson (1992) Eddie Robinson (1996) Jim Brown (1997) Michael Jordan (1999) LeBron James (2017) Stephen Curry / WNBA Players Association (2021)

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