Wilma Rudolph’s Olympic Glory

Wilma Rudolph’s Olympic Glory

Wilma Glodean Rudolph rose from disability to Olympic glory. She became the first African American women to win three gold medals in a single Olympic Games. No one thought of Rudolph to ever be able to walk again because of her difficult disease when she was a child. However, she not only walked, but ran in the Olympics. She matured into a leader. Wilma Rudolph is a hero and inspiration to other runners and victims of her disease.

Wilma Rudolph was born in Bethlehem, Tennessee in 1940. According to Amy Ruth, she was the twentieth of twenty children and was born with polio as a young child. Wilma Rudolph showed the world that she could not only could overcome polio, or infantile paralysis, which is a crippling disease. That caused Wilma Rudolph to be incapable of walking or running but be able to become one of the fastest women in history.According to Great Women, (online) because of racial segregation, she and her mother were not permitted to be cared for at the local hospital. She survived her illness of scarlet fever and pneumonia, however, lost the use of her left leg as a child. Rudolph's devoted family made sure she saw a physical therapist and received medical attention.Through determination and her family’s loving help she overcame her disability by the age of eleven. Five years later Rudolph competed in the Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.

“My doctors told me I would never be able to walk again. My Mother told me I would. I believed my mother,” said by Wilma Rudolph (Biography of Wilma Rudolph, 1983). Rudolph started to get involved with high school sports, including basketball and track. Right away Rudolph started to win several races. She was soon invited to a training camp at Tenne...

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...ympics and gave it her all in every race. That is something amazing to achieve after receiving polio as a child. Her loving family also gave her the confidence that she would be able to walk again. Later in Rudolph’s life she founded a non profit organization called the Wilma Rudolph foundation. Wilma Rudolph was an extraordinary person and a hero.

Not only did Wilma Glodean Rudolph become one of the most celebrated female athletes of all time. But, became a role model for women around the world and paved the way for African American athletes. Even with poverty and segregation she accomplish fame in basketball and track. Because of this her accomplishments caused gender barriers to be broken in track and field events. Still she actively participated in civil rights movement. Without Wilma Rudolph many lives of underprivileged children would not have been affected.