By Rebecca Tolkoff
Wilma Rudolph started her life as a 4 ½ pound preemie in 1940, but she grew to be 5’11” and lived 54 years. She had 21 siblings, got married twice, gave birth to four children, and had 8 grandchildren. She earned four Olympic medals and one bachelor’s degree. She helped elevate women’s running, as well as women’s rights and civil rights.
“My doctor told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother,” said Wilma. She had suffered, health-wise, as a young child with pneumonia, scarlet fever, and polio. As an African-American growing up in Tennessee, her healthcare access was limited due to racism and prejudice. The Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN is one of the oldest and largest historically black academic health science centers in the United States. Her family traveled a long distance on a regular basis to gain the healthcare she needed at Meharry. At 12, she finally stopped wearing a leg brace. It was just short of a miracle that she was able to participate in elementary school sports, and as an 8th grader, she played on her school basketball team where her talent was noticeable. A collegiate coach, Ed Temple, invited her to train in a summer track program at Tennessee State. The training group was nicknamed the Tigerbelles. Under Temple’s coaching the Tigerbelles sent 40 women to the Olympics and earned 23 medals.
“I loved the feeling of freedom in running, the fresh air, the feeling that the only person I’m competing with is me.”
Wilma Rudolph
Photo: A&E Biography
At 16, Wilma qualified for the US Olympic team and competed in Australia’s 1956 games. She earned a bronze for the women’s 4x100m relay. In 1960, world-wide TV coverage helped Wilma obtain her well-earned fame. She became known as “the fastest woman alive” earning a record 3 gold medals at the 1960 Rome Olympics (100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay events). What impressed me was the welcome home celebration in her hometown of Clarksville, TN right after the games. Despite the 1954 ruling in Brown v Board of education, Clarksville had not yet integrated schools or restrooms in 1960. Clarksville planned two parties for Wilma, one for whites and one for blacks. Wilma’s charisma, candor, and pride were persuasive. She refused to attend either unless they were integrated into one event. What resulted from her response was the first integrated city event in Clarksville. The October 4, 1960 party became known as “Wilma Rudolph Day.” The entire city welcomed her with a huge parade and party.
Rudolph’s stand against a segregated celebration might have paved a path for Wyomia Tyus a few years later. Wyomia was born 5 years after Rudolph, grew up in Georgia, and exhibited athletic prowess at an early age. Coach Temple invited Wyomia to train at Tennessee State, joining Rudolph just after Rudolph’s 3-gold Olympics. Wyomia then became the first woman to win consecutive gold medals (1964 and 1968 in the 100m).
Wyomia Tyus anchoring the U.S. 4 × 100-metre relay team, which won the gold medal in world record time at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City.
UPI—Bettmann/Corbis
At 19, Wyomia won gold in the 100m at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. She noted a stark contrast between the respect she experienced from the Japanese and her reception back home in Atlanta. It did not sit well that she was treated more equally in foreign countries than her own. When she heard talk about an Olympic boycott by black athletes for the 1968 Olympics, she gave it some thought. The athletes eventually decided they’d lose more by boycotting and instead organized the Olympic Project for Human Rights. Wyomia wore black shorts, not her uniform red/white/blue, as she earned her second 100m gold. You may be familiar with footage of Tommie Smith and John Carlos as they raised their fists in a black power salute during the American national anthem. Wyomia found her voice at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. She told reporters, “What is there to think? They made a statement. We all know that we’re fighting for human rights. That’s what they stood for on the victory stand—human rights for everyone, everywhere. And to support that and to support them, I’m dedicating my medal to them. I believe in what they did.”
U.S. athletes Tommie Smith, center, and John Carlos stare downward during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner after Smith received the gold and Carlos the bronze for the 200 meter run at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City on Oct. 16, 1968. Australian silver medalist Peter Norman is at left.
Photo: Associated Press
Both Rudolph and Tyus affected meaningful change. Their voices were heard, and they inspired a future generation of female runners and athletes, as well paved a clear path for better treatment for black athletes.
“I have spent a lifetime trying to share what it has meant to be a woman first in the world of sports so that other young women have a chance to reach their dreams.”
The stories of Wilma Rudolph and Wyomia Tyus were not celebrated in the US at the time of their historic medal victories. It’s really time to learn, share, and respect their stories now.