Wilma Rudolph
Athlete
|
Wilma Rudolph was born in 1940 in Tennessee. She came from a large family of 22 children. When she was 4 years old she could not move her left leg because of a disease called polio. The doctors told her that she would never be able to walk again. Her family wanted to prove them wrong. They took turns exercising and massaging her leg every day. She wore a leg brace until she was 12 years old. With her family’s help she was able to walk and run again. |
 |
When she was in 7th grade she played on her school’s basketball team and became a star player. In high school she set many basketball records. Before she graduated she ran on the United States team in the Olympics and won a bronze metal.
Wilma went to college at Tennessee State University. While there she set a world record for the 200-meter dash. She also won three Olympic medals in track. In 1960 she became the Athlete of the Year and was known as “the fastest woman in the world.”
Wilma set records at indoor and outdoor track before retiring in 1962. She graduated from college the next year and became a school teacher and track coach. She spent many years encouraging young children to enter sports no matter what problems they faced.
|
Wilma Rudolph Timeline |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
