The Fastest Woman on Earth
In all of American Sport History, few figures are more compelling than Wilma Rudolph. If a barrier stood in her way, Wilma broke it down, whether physical or societal. She overcame a host of maladies, from a scarlet fever to polio. She defied both gender and racial norms, and went to become an indisputable champion. Most impressively, she became a source of inspiration for generations to come, and her story is worth more than a fleeting mention in the text.
Even from birth, Wilma Rudolph had the odds stacked against her. On June 23, 1940 she was born in St. Bethlehem, Tennessee. She was born two months premature, a condition brought on by her mother falling. (Smith, 2006) At four and half pounds, the odds of survival were not in her favor, and if she did make it, her life would be an uphill battle. But Wilma proved to be a fighter, even as an infant, and she endured. Wilma’s birth made her the twentieth of her father’s twenty two children. Neither parent had completed elementary school, and the family struggled with poverty, with an income of about $2500 annually. Despite their money troubles, the family remained strong and close, a Wilma said they “had everything else, especially love”. (Anderson, 2011)
Financial issues were only the tip of the iceberg for Wilma. Her physical problems began with her premature birth and only grew from there. Before she turned seven, she suffered through double pneumonia, measles, mumps, whooping cough, chicken pox, and scarlet fever. Perhaps most damaging was her battle with polio, which left her stricken with infant paralysis at age four. As a result, she wore a steel brace on her left leg, which helped heal her body, but did considerable psychological damage, acc...
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...est, by saying “Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday." (Biography.com, 2014)
References
Smith, M. M. (2006). Wilma Rudolph: a biography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
Anderson, J. J. (2011). Wilma Rudolph: track and field inspiration. Edina, MN: ABDO Pub. Co..
Wilma Glodean Rudolph. (2014). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 07:08, Apr 14, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/wilma-rudolph-9466552.
Bagchi, R. (2012, June 1). 50 stunning Olympic moments No35: Wilma Rudolph's triple gold in 1960. theguardian.com. Retrieved April 15, 2014, from http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2012/jun/01/50-stunning-olympic-moments-wilma-rudolph
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" Doris R. Corbett WaynePatterson." THE SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF SPORT. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
Williams, Peter. The sports immortals: deifying the American athlete. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1994.. 30-31
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Wiggins, David Kenneth, and Patrick B. Miller. 2003. The unlevel playing field: a documentary history of the African American experience in sport. Urbana: University of Illinois Press
Miller, Patrick B. Wiggins, David K. Sport and the color line: Black athletes and Race relations in Twentieth-century America. 2004. The Journal of Southern History 70 (4) (Nov 2004): 990.
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Whitaker, Matthew C.. African American icons of sport: triumph, courage, and excellence. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2008.
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