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Wilma Rudolph, 1940-1994: 'The Fastest Woman in the World' |
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She was the first American woman to win three gold medals in one
Olympics. Transcript of radio broadcast: |
VOICE
ONE:
I’m
Steve Ember.
VOICE
TWO:
And I’m
Barbara Klein with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we tell
about Wilma Rudolph, the first American woman to win three gold medals in one
Olympics.
(MUSIC)
VOICE
ONE:
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Wilma
Rudolph |
They
called her “the Black Pearl,” “the Black Gazelle” and “the fastest woman in the
world.” In nineteen sixty, Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman
to win three gold medals in one Olympics. She was an extraordinary American
athlete. She also did a lot to help young athletes succeed.
Wilma
Rudolph was born in nineteen forty, in Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee. She was born
too early and only weighed two kilograms. She had many illnesses when she was
very young, including pneumonia and scarlet fever. She also had polio, which
damaged her left leg. When she was six years old, she began to wear metal leg
braces because she could not use that leg.
VOICE
TWO:
Wilma
Rudolph was born into a very large, poor, African-American family. She was the
twentieth of twenty-two children. Since she was sick most of the time, her
brothers and sisters all helped to take care of her. They took turns rubbing
her crippled leg every night. They also made sure she did not try to take off
her leg braces. Every week, Wilma's mother drove her to a special doctor
eighty kilometers away. Here, she got physical treatments to help heal her leg.
She
later said: “My doctors told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I
would. I believed my mother.”
VOICE
ONE:
Soon,
her family’s attention and care showed results. By the time she was nine years
old, she no longer needed her leg braces. Wilma was very happy, because she
could now run and play like other children. When she was eleven years old, her
brothers set up a basketball hoop in the backyard. After that, she played
basketball every day.
As a
teenager, Wilma joined the girl’s basketball team at
Burt High School. C.C. Gray was the coach who supervised the team. He gave her
the nickname “Skeeter.” She did very well in high
school basketball. She once scored forty-nine points in one game, which broke
the Tennessee state record.
Many
people noted that Wilma was a very good basketball player and a very good
athlete. One of these people was Ed Temple, who coached the track team of
runners at Tennessee State University. Ed Temple asked C.C. Gray to organize a
girl’s track team at the high school. He thought Wilma Rudolph would make a
very good runner. She did very well on the new track team.
(MUSIC)
VOICE
TWO:
Wilma
Rudolph went to her first Olympic Games when she was sixteen years old and
still in high school. She competed in the nineteen fifty-six games in
Melbourne, Australia. She was the youngest member of the United States team.
She won a bronze medal, or third place, in the sprint relay event.
In
nineteen fifty-seven, Wilma Rudolph started Tennessee State University, where
she joined the track team. The coach, Ed Temple, worked very hard for the girls
on the team. He drove them to track competitions and made improvements to the
running track with his own money. However, he was not an easy coach. For
example, he would make the members of the team run one extra time around the
track for every minute they were late to practice.
Wilma
Rudolph trained hard while in college. She did very well at her track
competitions against teams from other colleges. In nineteen sixty, she set the
world record for the fastest time in the two thousand meter event. She
said: “I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this sense of
determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened.”
VOICE
ONE:
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Wilma
Rudolph wins the 200 meter race at the Rome Olympics in 1960 |
That
same year, Wilma Rudolph went to the Olympics again, this time in Rome, Italy.
She won two gold medals -- first place -- in the one hundred meter and the two
hundred meter races. She set a new Olympic record of twenty-three point two
seconds for the two hundred meter dash.
Her
team also won the gold medal in the four hundred meter sprint relay event,
setting a world record of forty-four point five seconds. These three gold
medals made her one of the most popular athletes at the Rome games. These
victories made people call her the “world’s fastest woman.”
(SOUND)
VOICE
TWO:
Wilma
Rudolph received a lot of attention from the press and the public, but she did
not forget her teammates. She said that her favorite event was the relay,
because she could share the victory with her teammates Martha Hudson, Lucinda
Williams and Barbara Jones. All four women were from Tennessee State
University.
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Wilma Rudolph with her three gold medals |
The
Associated Press named Rudolph the U.S. Female Athlete of the year. She also
appeared on television many times. Sports fans in the United States and all
over the world loved and respected her. She said: “The feeling of
accomplishment welled up inside of me, three Olympic gold medals. I knew that
was something nobody could ever take away from me, ever.”
(MUSIC)
VOICE
ONE:
Wilma
Rudolph was a fine example for many people inside and outside the world of
sports. She supported the civil rights movement -- the struggle for equality
between white and black people. When she came home from the Olympics, she told
the governor of Tennessee that she would not attend a celebration where white
and black people were separated. As a result, her homecoming parade and dinner
were the first events in her hometown of Clarksville that white people and
black people were able to attend together.
After
she retired from sports, Wilma Rudolph completed her education at Tennessee
State University. She got her bachelor’s degree in elementary education and
became a teacher. She returned to coach the track team at Burt High School. She
also worked as a commentator for women’s track competitions on national
television. In nineteen sixty-three she married her high school boyfriend
Robert Eldridge. They had four children, but later ended their marriage.
Wilma
Rudolph won many important athletic awards. She was voted into the Black
Athlete’s Hall of Fame and the United States Olympic Hall of Fame. She was
also voted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. In nineteen
seventy-seven, she wrote a book about her life called “Wilma.” She wrote
about her childhood problems and her athletic successes. NBC later made the
book into a movie for television.
VOICE
TWO:
Rudolph
said her greatest success was creating the Wilma Rudolph Foundation in nineteen
eighty-one. This organization helped children in local communities to become
athletes. She always wanted to help young athletes recognize how much they
could succeed in their lives.
She
said: “The triumph can’t be had without the struggle. And I know what struggle
is. 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.”
Rudolph
also influenced many athletes. One of them was another African American runner,
Florence Griffith Joyner. In nineteen eighty-eight, Griffith Joyner became the
second American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics. She went
on to win a total of six Olympic medals. Wilma Rudolph was very happy to see
other African American female athletes succeed. She said: “I thought I’d never
get to see that. Florence Griffith Joyner – every time she ran, I ran.”
(MUSIC)
VOICE
ONE:
Wilma
Rudolph died of brain cancer in nineteen ninety-four in Nashville, Tennessee.
She was fifty-four years old. She influenced athletes, African Americans and
women around the world. She was an important example of how anyone can overcome
barriers and make their dreams come true. Her nineteen sixty Olympics
teammate, Bill Mulliken, said: "She was
beautiful; she was nice, and she was the best."
(MUSIC)
VOICE
TWO:
This
program was written by Erin Braswell and produced by Lawan
Davis. I’m Barbara Klein.
VOICE
ONE:
And I’m
Steve Ember. You can learn more about famous Americans at our Web site,
voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in
VOA Special English.