"The triumph can't be had without the struggle."
--Wilma Rudolph
Having honored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this past week, we're reminded of those individuals whose courage and accomplishments have truly made a difference.
When it comes to sports, we immediately think of the late Jackie Robinson and his huge sacrifices that opened doors for others.
However, it was a woman named Wilma Rudolph—whose story has long been underpublicized—who also undoubtedly influenced black/sports history in immense ways by personifying the word "overcome."
Born in Tennessee in 1940, Wilma Rudolph was the 20th of her father's 22 children and a very sick one—suffering chicken pox, measles, mumps, scarlet fever and double pneumonia during her early years. She also contracted polio; doctors simply told her parents she'd never walk.
Fitted with leg braces when she was six, she'd visit the all-black Meharry Hospital in Nashville weekly and continue her grueling physical therapy at home with the aid of a huge support network—her countless family members—who'd often take turns massaging her ravaged left leg.
Tutored at home due to her health problems, she began to walk without braces in the early 1950s and soon took an interest in basketball and track (she proceeded to score 49 points in a high school basketball game and ultimately led her team to the state championship).
Track coach Ed Temple of Tennessee State University immediately took notice of the skinny, athletic girl who defied all odds; under his tutelage, she participated as a 16 year old in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne and earned a bronze medal as part of a track relay team.
She'd earn a scholarship to Tennessee State where she became a member of Temple's "Tigerbelles" track squad; having already overcome so many personal obstacles, Wilma Rudolph was on her way to becoming the most unlikely of heroes to many worldwide.
At the 1960 Rome Olympics, Wilma Rudolph sprained her ankle tripping over a water pipe early in the competition. However, the young star from Tennessee was already all-too-familiar with the term "adversity" and vowed to compete.
With her ankle taped up all throughout the games, she broke the Olympic record in the 200 meters on her way to THREE gold medals in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4 x 100 relay; she had become the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympics.
The swift gal whom newspapers referred to as "The Black Pearl" and "The Black Gazelle" became an instant national hero and was even adored internationally; in Germany, she'd need police escorts on occasion and fans would frequently storm her bus until she'd wave at them.
She was named the United Press Athlete of the Year and the Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year in 1960, but perhaps one of Wilma Rudolph's greatest feats came AWAY from the track.
Armed with the bravery that now came so naturally to her, Wilma insisted her homecoming parade in Clarksville, Tennessee NOT be a segregated affair—a radical wish considering the heightened racial tensions at the time. Her victory parade, along with the accompanying banquet held in her honor, was the first time in Clarksville's history that blacks and whites ever assembled for a mutual event.
In addition, the esteemed Olympic hero participated in protests until her hometown’s segregation laws were ultimately struck down. Yes, Wilma Rudolph had used her newly found fame to improve the lives of others.
Funny what a lot of determination and hard work on the part of a focused young woman—whom doctors had once cast off as an invalid—can do, huh?
Wilma Rudolph retired from track and field in the early 1960's; she ultimately received her degree from Tennessee State in 1963 and went on to teach elementary school and coach high school track athletes. She became a respected, in-demand speaker at universities and won numerous awards in her post-track and field days.
She was inducted into the Black Sports Hall of Fame in 1980, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983 and was awarded the Vitalis Cup for Sports Excellence also in 1983, to name just a few. But Wilma always said one of her top accomplishments was the formation of the Wilma Rudolph Foundation, a non-profit organization whose goal was to promote free coaching (in a variety of sports) and academic assistance.
Yes, the woman's greatness never DID seem to involve a finish line.
In July of 1994, the great Wilma Rudolph was diagnosed with brain and throat cancer, but still found the courage and time to occasionally walk around her alma mater's track with her former coach, Ed Temple.
Amid little fanfare, she passed away at home on November 12, 1994, at the young age of 54; cancer was perhaps the ONLY opponent to ever defeat the long-legged lady who was once the fastest woman in the world.
However, the truly great ones never die—nor do their remembrances. Wilma Rudolph Boulevard, a section of Highway 79 in Clarksville, remains a popular thoroughfare while Tennessee State University still proudly houses students in the 1995-dedicated building known as the Wilma Rudolph Residence Center.
Over the years, female Olympians—such as Florence Griffith Joyner and Jackie Joyner-Kersee—have attributed much of their success to Rudolph; her worldwide celebrity brought attention to women's athletics and undoubtedly broke down gender barriers in formerly male-dominated track and field events.
In essence, her unmatched determination rose above the wicked segregation of her era and her calm, steady efforts on behalf of civil rights made life better for a helluva lot of people.
Let's never forget people/pioneers like Wilma Rudolph after this week when we honored Dr. King—or ANY week, for that matter. Her contributions, both athletically and societal, were undoubtedly humongous and far-reaching.
Some time ago, former swimmer Bill Mulliken—a 1960 Olympic teammate of Wilma's—offered these simple, yet moving words about a remarkable woman who left this world much too soon: "She was beautiful, she was nice and she was the best."
I'll add this, Bill: a woman that ALL Americans can be very proud of.
Nicky Hilton Garcelle Beauvais Kristy Swanson Ali Campoverdi Giuliana DePandi
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