Wilma Rudolph Statue
Introduction
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Images
Wilma Rudolph became the first woman to win three gold medals at a single Olympic games in 1960
The statue of Wilma Rudolph is located at the southern end of the Cuberland River Walk
Backstory and Context
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Wilma Rudolph was born premature, weighing only four and a half pounds. She was also the twentieth child in a family of twenty-two children. At age four, young Wilma was diagnosed with polio and was required to wear braces on her legs for the next five years. Rudolph set her mind upon overcoming her disability by running, jumping, and playing like other children her age despite the pain and fatigue. By age 12, Rudolph was able to play competitive sports such as basketball.
Rudolph's big break came when she was spotted by Tennessee State’s track and field coach and asked to join his summer program on the campus of this historically Black university. When Wilma Rudolph was only seventeen years old, she earned a berth on the U.S Olympic track team and came home with a bronze medal in the 1956 Melbourne Games. She also won races in the Pan American games as well as the AAU indoor meet. By 1960, she was the fastest woman in the world.
Rudolph won three gold medals in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Two years later, Wilma Rudolph retired from track at the age of twenty-two and became a teacher and community leader in several cities. On November 12, 1994, Rudolph died of cancer in her home in Nashville.