Wilma Rudolph

Wilma Glodean Rudolph was born prematurely weighing 4.5 pounds in Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee, the twentieth of twenty-two children. Contracting infantile paralysis caused by polio at age four, she lost the use of her left leg. For years, her mother drove her fifty miles each week to Nashville for physical therapy while her siblings massaged her leg daily. By age nine, Rudolph shed her metal orthopedic leg brace, and by age twelve, she was walking normally without corrective shoes.

Joining the Tennessee State University track team under coach Ed Temple as one of the famed 'Tigerbelles', Rudolph qualified for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics at just sixteen years old, winning bronze in the 4x100m relay. Standing 5 feet 11 inches tall with an effortless, graceful stride, she was affectionately christened 'La Gazzella Nera' (The Black Gazelle) by the Italian press.

At the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, Rudolph dominated the track, winning gold in the 100 meters (11.0s wind-aided), 200 meters (24.0s), and anchoring the 4x100m relay to gold in world record time, becoming the first American woman to win three track-and-field gold medals at one Olympics. When she returned home to Clarksville, Tennessee, Rudolph refused to participate in her official victory celebrations unless the city agreed to make them fully racially integrated, holding the first integrated public event in the town's history.