Women's History Wednesday Profile: Wilma Rudolph.

Athletes have a way of entering the homes and hearts of families across the world because of their performance in competition. Amazing individual and team accomplishments inspire businesswomen and Pee Wee boys teams alike. However, there are some athletes that, when we remove ourselves from the snapshot of their highest sporting glory, we realize that victory was certainly hard earned, but perhaps it was also inevitable. Wilma Rudolph is one of those athletes.

In 1997, the Women’s Sports Foundation presented the first Wilma Rudolph Courage Award, given to a female athlete who, “exhibits extraordinary courage in her athletic performance, demonstrates the ability to overcome adversity, makes significant contributions to sports and serves as an inspiration and role model to those who face challenges …”. It’s namesake, Wilma Rudolph, became the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single games. However, before Rudolph became an elite Olympian, she first had to learn how to walk again.

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY

“I believe in me more than anything in this world.”

Rudolph contracted polio at four years old, leaving her left leg partially paralyzed. Doctors told her she would never walk again without a brace. Wilma and her family refused to believe this was the end. After physical therapy, a leg brace and much hard work and dedication, Wilma regained her ability to walk at 12. Just four years later, before completing high school, Rudolph won her first Olympic medal at 16; a bronze in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

A year later, Rudolph had her first child Yolanda, at the age of 17. Being an unwed black teenager with a baby in the 1950’s, it would have been understandable if that were the end of Wilma’s professional running career. Indeed, Rudolph sat out her senior season of high school track and questioned if she would ever run again. However, with the help of her sister and her coach, she was able to make the Tennessee State University track team, and the 1960 Olympic Roster. Wilma had already come back from a crippling illness, deep poverty and teenage motherhood before becoming an American hero.

MAKING HISTORY

The 1960 Games proved to be her most successful, as well as her last, Olympic campaign. During the summer Olympic Games in Rome, Italy, Rudolph took home a historic three medals (all gold), becoming the first American woman, and the second female athlete, to do so. She competed in the 100 meter and 200 meter races, as well as the 400 meter relay. Rudolph anchored the relay team, overcoming a two-yard lag and winning with a three-yard lead.

Wilma Rudolph returned from the Olympics with the promise of a hometown ticker tape parade and banquet to be held in Clarksville, Tennessee. However, the parade was planned as a segregated event. This meant that her family, including her daughter, her 19 siblings and her friends would be relegated as separate and second class to white fans. Rudolph refused to attend under these circumstances. Thus, her Olympic celebration became the first integrated public event the town’s history.

LIFE AFTER THE OLYMPICS

Rudolph retired from competition at 22 years old. On her retirement, Rudolph stated, “ … the crowd in the stadium was on its feet, giving me a standing ovation, and I knew what time it was. Time to retire, with a sweet taste.” In 1994, Rudolph’s long-time coach Ed Temple stated, “If Wilma was coming along now, she’d still be running … she wasn’t close to her peak. But there was nothing out there then.”

Rudolph graduated from TSU and became a grade school teacher in her hometown. However, it was the development of disadvantaged youth that gave her the greatest joy.

LEAVING A LEGACY

“I would be very sad if I was only remembered as Wilma Rudolph, the great sprinter. To me, my legacy is to the youth of America to let them know they can be anything they want to be.”

Wilma was committed to offering opportunities to young athletes living in poverty. Her commitment to supporting underserved communities began shortly after her Olympic career ended. In 1967, Vice President Hubert Humphrey personally selected Rudolph as the Track Specialist for Operation Champion, a program developed to train young athletes from impoverished communities. In 1982, The Wilma Rudolph Foundation was established by its namesake to support and develop disadvantaged youth through sports and academics.

By 1987, Rudolph was selected the Director of the Women’s Track Program at Depauw University. Then President of Depauw, Robert Bottoms, remarked, “This is an unusual opportunity to make an appointment which not only enhances the women's sports program at DePauw, but also allows the University to interact with the Wilma Rudolph Foundation. This will enable the University to express its commitment to quality education for minority groups.”

Nine years later, the Women in Sports Foundation, founded by Billie Jean King, presented the first Wilma Rudolph Courage Award to Jackie Joyner-Kersee. This award is now regarded as one of the most illustrious awards in all of women’s sports. Wilma Rudolph died of brain cancer two years before Kersee became the first recipient of the award.

Wilma Rudolph was a great athlete, but her legacy is more than her four Olympic medals. Rudolph’s short-lived celebrity gave her the leverage to diminish barriers for young athletes growing up in poor communities. She traveled the world, dissuading young, aspiring athletes from using circumstances, illness or other setbacks as an excuse. Her message was simple, “The potential for greatness lives within each of us.”

Upon her death, the Tennessee State Flag was flown at half mast. In 1997, Tennessee named June 23rd Wilma Rudolph Day.

Follow Erica Ayala on Twitter @Elindsay08

Sources: (For More on Wilma Rudolph)

http://www.tnhistoryforkids.org/people/wilma_rudolph

Empowerment: The Competitive Edge in Sports, Business & Life

By Gene N. Landrum

https://books.google.com/books?id=V8_Saizq_88C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Wilma Rudolph: Track & Field Inspiration

By Jennifer Joline Anderson

https://books.google.com/books?id=8nD8VHpZnAkC&pg=PA90&lpg=PA90&dq=hubert+humphrey+Operation+Champion&source=bl&ots=wpQUnxmVp0&sig=-J_9utRi2-pV3yZmkwuEeZwAbWU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjG5J68qMrKAhXBuIMKHS2bDU4Q6AEILTAF#v=onepage&q=hubert%20humphrey%20Operation%20Champion&f=false

Wilma Rudolph, Star of the 1960 Olympics, Dies at 54

By FRANK LITSKY

Published: November 13, 1994

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/13/obituaries/wilma-rudolph-star-of-the-1960-olympics-dies-at-54.html

http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/home/programs/awards/wilma-rudolph-courage-award

http://www.depauw.edu/news-media/latest-news/details/21712/

Wilma Rudolph - Mini Biography (TV-PG; 2:52) http://www.biography.com/people/wilma-rudolph-9466552#synopsis