Wilma Rudolph overcame debilitating childhood diseases to become the first American woman to win three Gold Medals at the Olympics.

Wilma Glodean Rudolph was born in 1940, in Clarksville, Tennessee; she was the twentieth child of her father's 22 children.  Her father, Ed Rudolph, was a railroad porter and handyman, and her mother cooked and cleaned houses for wealthy White families. 

Wilma was born prematurely and suffered many illnesses as a young child, including the measles, mumps, scarlet fever, pneumonia, and chicken pox.  Wilma spent much of her early childhood at home, sick in bed, and did not start school until the age of seven.  She contracted polio at a young age and lost the use of her left leg and foot.  From the age of five or six, she used a leg brace and corrective shoes, and her parents, brothers and sisters not only made sure she kept the brace on her leg, but also massaged her leg and helped her with prescribed physical therapy every day, to assist her in regaining mobility.  

Wilma was determined to be a normal child. The leg brace was discarded when she was about nine, and by the time she was eleven, she could walk without the corrective shoes.  Her brothers had erected a basketball goal in their back yard, and Wilma began to play basketball with them.  By the time she was thirteen, she was outrunning her neighborhood friends in informal races.   

She began to play basketball at school as one of her older sisters had done, and in the tenth grade she broke a state record, scoring forty-nine points in one game.  A Tennessee State University track coach, Ed Temple, watched her play and encouraged her high school basketball coach to form a girls track team .  Wilma was invited to attend daily practices for the Tennessee State track team while she was still in high school.  She was undefeated at all her high school track events.  She is quoted as having said, "I don't know why I run so fast--I just run."  In 1956, while still in high school, Wilma went to the Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, where her relay team won a bronze medal.     

She graduated from Burt High School and received a full scholarship to Tennessee State University, where, in 1957, she became a member of the Tigerbells, Tennessee State's acclaimed track team.  She became well-known in the world of collegiate track, setting a world record for the 200 meter dash during the Olympic trials.  

She went to the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Italy with a team coached by Ed Temple and made up mostly of members of the Tennessee State track team.  Rudolph won the gold medal in the 100 meter dash, then broke the Olympic record for the 200 meter dash by running it in 23.2 seconds, winning the gold in that event also.  Her third gold medal was in the relay;  her team, all from the Tennessee State women's track team, set a world record of 44.4 seconds in the semifinals, then took the gold medal in 44.5 seconds when Rudolph, making up time lost from a poor pass of the baton, overtook a German runner and put the American team in the lead.  

Rudolph's triple gold medals made her a celebrity all over the world.  She was beautiful and charming, and had many adoring fans.  Her home town, Clarksville, planned a homecoming parade and banquet for her.  The governor of Tennessee, who wished to preside over the event, however, had run on a segregationist platform, and  Clarksville had never held an integrated civic event.  Wilma Rudolph informed the organizers that she would not attend any segregated celebration, and because of her adamancy on this issue, Clarksville ended up with its first integrated town event.  Rudolph actively participated in other protest events until segregationist laws were struck down.

In 1960, Wilma Rudolph was named the Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press, and won many other sports honors that year and the next couple of years.     

In 1963, she graduated from Tennessee State, with a Bachelor of Education and went on to become track coach at her old high school and at De Pauw University.  Rudolph was chosen to be a goodwill ambassador to West Africa.  She lectured at times, hosted a radio talk show, and worked as a television sports commentator.  She married her high school sweetheart, Robert Eldridge, and they had four children.  Rudolph once stated that her greatest accomplishment was the establishment of the Wilma Rudolph Foundation, a community-based non-profit outreach program to nurture young athletes. 

Her autobiography was published in 1977 and was made into a TV movie starring Cicely Tyson.  Wilma Rudolph was still active in many sports-related areas when she was stricken with brain cancer in 1994.  She died at the age of 54 after being ill for several months.  She was buried with the Olympic flag draped over her casket.  A former teammate from the 1960 Olympics remembered her this way:  "She was beautiful, she was nice, and she was the best."             

by
Susan Robinson