Wilma Glodean Rudolph

Wilma Rudolph (http://www.wilmarudolph.net/index.html)

Wilma Glodean Rudolph's childhood was very sad. She was born on June 23, 1940. Her parents where Ed and Blanche, she was also born the twentieth of twenty-two children. She was born prematurely and only weighed four and a half pounds. Even though she was very sick, she and her mom could not go to a local hospital because it only allowed whites. Her mom had to take care of her when she had the measles, mumps, scarlet fever, chicken pox, and double pneumonia. She had to go to a doctor though, when her left leg was becoming deformed. It was then discovered that she had polio and that there was no cure for it. Doctors told her parents that she might never be able to walk. But her mother found a treatment at Meharry Hospital, it was fifty miles away. After that her mom took her twice a week to Meharry. With the help of her family and the Doctors she learned to walk without crutches, or braces. Her childhood was very difficult for anyone.

Rudolph's education lead her to meet the man that started her track career. She was home-schooled by her family. When she turned seven she started school. When she entered Junior High she wanted to follow in her older sister footsteps, she joined the basketball team. After joining she didn't play in a single game for her first three years. In her sophomore year she became a starting guard. She set state records for scoring and she led her team to the championship. In that year, while playing she caught the eye of her future coach, Ed Temple. It was here that lead her to her track career.

Runniung (http://awaythrough.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/WilmaRudolph.jpg)

With Ed Temple She practiced at the College that he worked at. At her high school they did not have a track and field team. She went to the Tennessee College to run Track. Temple told the school to form a basketball team so one of the players could run. Temple drove his track team to meets in his own car. But he was not a softie; if one of his team members was late he made them run an extra lap. One time Rudolph was late by thirty minutes, so she ran an extra thirty laps. The following day she was there thirty minutes early. Wilma's track career was started at Tennessee. Through running she got a scholarship to Tennessee. This was her start to her running career.

Rudolph's time at the Olympics was amazing. At the age of sixteen she traveled to Melbourne, Australia in the 1956 Olympics. There, she won her first bronze medal in the 4x100 meter relay race. In 1960 she went to the Olympics in Rome. There she was the first American woman to win three gold medals. She won them in the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, and ran the anchor on the 400-meter relay team. Then she took time off of school to help with her new found fame. Another accomplishment, she married her high school love and they had four kids. She was also a teacher, coach, and a sports announcer. She defeated all odds to win these medals.

Wilma's grave (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/4359979672_852b374c90.jpg)

Along with these Medals Rudolph won many other awards. She won eight awards from 1960 to 1984 such as the United Press Athlete 1960, Black Sports Hall of Fame 1980, and U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame 1983. She was the first woman to win six awards or invitations like, The Millrose Games, New York Athletic Club Track Meet, and James E. Sullivan Award for Good Sportsmanship 1961. She proved to many people that blacks or women were just as good as white men.

She unfortunately died in 1994. She was diagnosed with brain cancer. She died November 12th, 1994. She died in Nashville, Tennessee. She was in and out of hospitals for several months. People will remember her for her running speed.