Against All Odds: The Story of Olympian Wilma Rudolph

When Wilma Glodean Rudolph was born on June 23, 1940, no one would have suspected that she would one day become one of the most recognized athletes in the world and one of the greatest female athletes the United States has ever seen. Born prematurely, Wilma was only 4.5 ounces at birth. Her early childhood would be plagued by illness, including a crippling bout with polio.

Wilma's family was large: she was the twentieth of twenty-two children. Her father worked as a railroad porter and handyman, while her mother worked as a servant in the homes of wealthier families in their hometown of Clarkesville, Tennessee.

For the first years of her life Wilma stayed at home and was schooled by her mother. After discovering that she had polio her mother took her to the hospital twice a week. Unfortunately they could not go to the local hospital because it was for whites only. The nearest hospital that would take them in (and they could afford) was Meharry Hospital at Fisk University in Nashville: 50 miles away.

Wilma the Athlete

Fortunately for Wilma she soon recovered from her illness and by age 12 could walk normally. She immediately entered athletics, joining the Junior High basketball team. During this time she earned the nickname "Skeeter" because, as her coach said, she was "little and fast and always in my way." By her sophomore year she was the starting guard of the team and led them to a state championship.

During one of her basketball games Wilma was discovered by Ed Temple, the coach of the famous Tigerbells women's track team at the Tennessee State University. From first seeing her Temple knew that Wilma was born to run. Because Burt High School that Wilma was attending did not have a track and field team, Wilma was invited to train at the university's summer training camp, and would continue attending university practices.

Olympic Champion

In 1956, at the young age of 16 Wilma Rudolph went to the Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. It was here that she first entered the international spotlight, a world-renowned track star. She won the bronze medal in the 4x100-meter relay.

Four years later the Olympics were on again, this time in Rome, Italy. Now it was truly Wilma's time to shine, and she would be the star of the Games that year. She won three gold medals: in the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash and the 4x100-meter relay. Wilma was the first American woman ever to win three gold medals in the Olympics.

Wilma Rudolph was a star the world over. Everyone wanted to see Wilma Rudolph run. She travelled Europe, going to Greece, England, the Netherlands and Germany, where she was constantly mobbed by huge crowds. She won numerous awards in 1960, including the United Press Athlete of the year, Associated Press Athlete of the Year and the Christopher Columbus Award for Most Outstanding International Sports Personality, among a number of others.

Despite her new status as an international celebrity, the realities of segregation still existed in her hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee. A victory parade was planned in her honor and Wilma had to fight to keep it fully integrated, unlike the tradition of the city until that time. Wilma's victory parade would be the first ever non-segregated event in Clarksville. Afterwards she would continue to fight to permanently remove the segregation laws of the city.

Life After the Olympics

After the Olympics Wilma returned to school at Tennessee State University, where she would receive her degree in Education in 1963. That year she would also marry her husband, Robert Eldridge, with whom she would have four children. She was also selected by the United States State Department to be Goodwill Ambassador at the Games of Friendship in Dakar, Senegal.

In retirement Wilma and her husband moved back to Clarksville, where she taught at her old school, Cobb Elementary. She also became the track coach at Burt High School. She soon decided to move on from Clarksville, however, and became a fulltime coach, moving first from Maine then to Indiana.

Vice President Hubert Humphrey invited her to join "Operation Champ," in 1967, an athletic program that reached out to underprivileged youth in the inner city. This inspired her to start the Wilma Rudolph Foundation. It provided free coaching in a number of sports as well as academic assistance and support.

Her autobiography, entitled simply "Wilma" was published in 1977 and inspired a TV movie the same year. During the 1980's she was voted into both the Black Sports Hall of Fame and the US Olympic Hall of Fame.

For a girl who was born with everything against her: poor in a large family, the wrong color in a white-run world, bad health topped by a crippling disease, the achievements of Wilma Rudolph are nothing less than incredible. An astounding feat for any person, Wilma truly fought against all odds to get to where she was.

In 1994 at the age of 54 she would die of brain cancer in her home in Nashville, Tennessee, but the mark she had made upon the world would never be forgotten.