Home > Blogs > Post Content
|
|
TRACK STAR, BORN IN SAINT BETHLEHEM, TENNESSEE. WILMA RUDOLPH WAS THE 20th OF 22 CHILDREN. AT FOUR, SHE CONTRACTED PNEUMONIA, SCARLET FEVER AND POLIO. HER FAMILY WAS TOLD SHE WOULD NEVER WALK AGAIN. HER PARENTS REFUSED TO ACCEPT THIS PROGNOSIS AND THE ENTIRE FAMILY TOOK TURNS MASSAGING HER LEGS FOUR TIMES A DAY. BY AGE SIX, SHE WAS WALKING WITH THE AIDE OF A LEG BRACE. LATER, A SPECIAL ORTHOPEDIC SHOE WAS ALLOWED HER TO PLAY BASKETBALL WITH HER BROTHERS. WHEN SHE WAS 11, SHE BEGAN PLAYING IN HER BARE FEET AND FOUR YEARS LATER SHE BECAME AN ALL-STATE HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL CHAMPION. SHE ALSO BEGAN TO COMPETE IN TRACK. IN 1959 WHEN SHE WAS A HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR, WILMA RUDOLPH QUALIFIED FOR THE OLYMPICS IN MELBOURNE WHERE SHE WON A BRONZE METAL. FOUR YEARS LATER IN ROME, SHE BECAME THE FIRST AMERICAN WOMAN TO WIN THREE GOLD METALS IN THE TRACK IN ONE OLYMPICS, WINNING THE 100-METER DASH IN 11 SECONDS, THE 200-METER DASH IN 24 SECONDS AND THE 400-METER RELAY. CALLED " LA GAZELLE" AND" THE BLACK PEARL" SHE LATER BECAME A TEACHER, COACH AND TELEVISION HOST.
Posted By: barbara robinson
Saturday, June 30th 2012 at 10:39AM
|
Blogs Home
|
|
|
|
