Wilma+Rudolph

=Wilma Rudolph=

Overview[[image:a_wilma_rudolph.jpg width="122" height="150" align="right" caption="Wilma as a teenager" link="http://espn.go.com/media/abcsports/2000/1102/photo/a_wilma_rudolph.jpg"]]
When you think about women Track and Field you think about one athlete, Wilma Rudolph. Wilma Glodean Rudolph was born to Ed and Blanche Rudolph on June 23rd 1940, in Bethlehem Tennessee, and later moved to Clarkesville with her parents. She was born prematurely at 4.5 lbs., with 19 brothers and sisters, and caught "infantile paralysis" (caused by the polio virus) as a very young child. She recovered, but wore a brace on her left leg and foot which had become twisted as a result. She attended her first year of school at the age of seven, and when she graduated from High School she attended Tennessee State, on a full Track and Field Scholarship, and received a Bachelors degree in elementary education. She would later go on to be the first American Women to win three Gold Medals in Track and Field during a single Olympic Games.

Critical Is sue
In junior high, Wilma followed her older sister Yolanda's example and joined the basketball team. The coach, Clinton Gray, didn't put her in a single game for three years. Finally, in her sophomore year, she became the starting guard. During the state basketball tournament, she was spotted by Ed Temple, the coach for the Tigerbells, the woman's track team at Tennessee State University. Because Burt High School didn't have the funding for a track team, coach Temple invited Wilma to Tennessee State for a summer sports camp.

=
r relay. The biggest event in Wilma Rudolph's life is the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Italy. Wilma entered the 1960 Olympics and won three Gold Medals for the United States, becoming the first ever American women to accomplish this feat. The woman known as "T =====

=
he Tornado" and to the Italians as "La Gazzella Nera" (the Black Gazelle) collected medals in the 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, and the 4 x 100 meter relay while running on a sprained ankle. The 100 meter dash time was not recorded as a world record because it had been wind-aided, but she did break the world record in the 200 meter dash with a time of 23.2 seconds. After these triumphs at Rome she was hailed as the fastest woman on Earth and would later break the 4 x 100 meter relay time later in that year on September 4th. =====

__**Obituary-**__ []
 * ~ **Medal Record** ||
 * ~ Women's Athletics ||
 * ** Gold ** || 1960 Rome || 100 m ||
 * ** Gold ** || 1960 Rome || 200 m ||
 * ** Gold ** || 1960 Rome || 4 x 100 m relay ||
 * ** Bronze ** || 1956 Melbourne || 4 x 100 m relay ||
 * ** Gold ** || 1960 Rome || 4 x 100 m relay ||
 * ** Bronze ** || 1956 Melbourne || 4 x 100 m relay ||