Wilma Rudolph
“What do you do after you are world famous at 20 years old and have sat with prime ministers, kings, queens, and the Pope? You come back to the real world.”
Biography
Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games when she took gold in the 100m, 200m and the 4 x 100m relay in Rome.
The 20th of 22 children, Rudolph’s achievements are all the more astonishing as she suffered from polio as a child and walked with braces until she was 12. Just four years later, she won a place on the 1956 US Olympic team coming home from the Melbourne games with an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 x 100m relay.
Rudolph retired from track competition in 1962 and worked as a teacher coaching track and also as a sports commentator.
Career Highlights
| 1952 | Walked without braces |
| 1960 | United Press Athlete of the Year |
| Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year | |
| 1961 | Won James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States |
| 1973 | Voted into the National Black Sports and Entertainment Hall of Fame |
| 1974 | Inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame |
| 1977 | Published her autobiography, Wilma: The Story of Wilma Rudolph |
| 1981 | Founded Wilma Rudolph Foundation dedicated to assisting young athletes |
| 1983 | Inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame |
| 1987 | Became the first female to win the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award |
| 1989 | Received the Jackie Robinson Image Award of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People |
| 1993 | National Sports Award |
| 2000 | Ranked by Sports Illustrated magazine as the greatest sports figure in twentieth-century Tennessee |
