Editing Wilma Rudolph (section)

==Career==
===Early years===
Rudolph was first introduced to organized sports at Burt High School, the center of Clarksville's African American community. After completing several years of medical treatments to regain the use of her left leg, Rudolph chose to follow in her sister Yvonne's footsteps and began playing basketball in the eighth grade. Rudolph continued to play basketball in high school, where she became a starter on the team and began competing in track. In her sophomore year, Rudolph scored 803 points and set a new record for high school girls' basketball.<ref name=NBAW958-61/> Rudolph's high school coach, C. C. Gray, gave her the nickname of "Skeeter" (for mosquito) because she moved so fast.<ref name="guardianolysrs"/>

While playing for her high school basketball team, Rudolph was spotted by [[Ed Temple]], [[Tennessee State University|Tennessee State's]] track and field coach, a major break for the active young athlete. The day that Temple saw the tenth grader for the first time, he knew Rudolph was a natural athlete. She had already gained some track experience on Burt High School's track team two years earlier, mostly as a way to keep busy between basketball seasons.<ref>Biracree (1988), p. 47</ref> As a high school sophomore, Rudolph competed at [[Alabama]]'s [[Tuskegee University|Tuskegee Institute]] in her first major track event. Although she lost the race, Rudolph was determined to continue competing and win.<ref name=NBAW958-61/>

Temple invited 14-year-old Rudolph to join his summer training program at Tennessee State. After attending the track camp, Rudolph won all nine events she entered at an [[Amateur Athletic Union]] track meet in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name=NBAW958-61/> Under Temple's guidance, she continued to train regularly at TSU while still a high school student. Rudolph raced at amateur athletic events with TSU's women's track team, known as the Tigerbelles, for two more years before enrolling at TSU as a student in 1958.<ref name="guardianolysrs"/>

===1956 Summer Olympics===
When Rudolph was 16 and a junior in high school, she attended the 1956 U.S. Olympic track and field team trials in [[Seattle, Washington]], and qualified to compete in the [[200 metres at the Olympics|200-meter]] individual event at the [[1956 Summer Olympics]] in [[Melbourne]], [[Australia]]. Rudolph, the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic team, was one of five TSU Tigerbelles to qualify for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.<ref name=Bio-WR/><ref name=t>{{cite web |url=http://www.tnstate.edu/library/documents/Rudolph.pdf |title=Wilma Rudolph and the TSU Tigerbelles|author=Bobby Lovett|date=June 20, 2016|website=Tennessee State University|access-date=February 9, 2017}} See also: {{cite encyclopedia| author= Bobby Lovett| author-link= Bobby Lovett|title=Wilma Rudolph (1940–1994) and the TSU Tigerbelles | encyclopedia =Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture Version 2 (online edition) | publisher =University of Tennessee Press | date =March 1, 2012|url=https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1156| access-date =2017-02-09}}</ref>

Rudolph was defeated in a preliminary heat of the 200-meter race at the Melbourne Olympic Games but ran the third leg of the [[4 × 100 meters relay|4 × 100 m relay]].<ref name=RomanConquest>{{cite web| author=Larry Schwartz |title=Her Roman Conquest | publisher =ESPN | url =https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00016446.html | access-date =February 17, 2017}}</ref> The American team of Rudolph, [[Isabelle Daniels]], [[Mae Faggs]], and [[Margaret Matthews]], all of whom were TSU Tigerbelles, won the [[bronze medal]], matching the world-record time of 44.9 seconds. The [[Great Britain|British]] team won the silver medal. The Australian team, with the 100- and 200-meter gold medalist [[Betty Cuthbert]] as their anchor leg, won the gold medal in a time of 44.5 seconds.<ref name="guardianolysrs"/> After Rudolph returned to her Tennessee home from the Melbourne Olympic Games, Rudolph showed her high school classmates the [[bronze medal]] that she had won and decided to try to win a gold medal at the [[1960 Summer Olympics]] in [[Rome]], [[Italy]].<ref name=sports-reference/><ref name="guardianolysrs"/>

In 1958, Rudolph enrolled at Tennessee State, where Temple continued as her track coach.<ref name=Hine-992-93/> At the [[Pan American Games]] in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]] the following year, Rudolph won a silver medal in the 100-meter individual event, as well as a gold medal in the 4 × 100-meter relay with teammates [[Isabelle Dan]], [[Barbara Joe (cheerleader)|Barbara Joe]], and [[Lucinda Williams (athlete)|Lucinda Williams]]. She also won the [[Amateur Athletic Union|AAU]] 200-meter title in 1959 and defended it for four consecutive years. During her career, Rudolph also won three AAU indoor titles.<ref name=sports-reference/>

===1960 Summer Olympics===
[[File:Giuseppina leone.jpg|260px|thumb|Rudolph wins the women's 100-meter dash at the 1960 Summer Olympics in [[Rome]].]]

While she was still a sophomore at Tennessee State, Rudolph competed in the U.S. Olympic track and field trials at [[Abilene Christian University]] in [[Abilene, Texas]], where she set a world record in the 200-meter dash that stood for eight years. Rudolph also qualified for the [[1960 Summer Olympics]] in the [[100 meters at the Olympics|100-meter]] dash.<ref name=NBAW958-61/>

At the [[1960 Summer Olympics]] in Rome, Italy, Rudolph competed in three events on a [[cinder track]] in Rome's [[Stadio Olimpico]]: the 100- and 200-meter sprints, as well as the 4 × 100-meter relay. Rudolph, who won a gold medal in each of these events, became the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympiad.<ref name=bbc/><ref name=espn/>

Rudolph ran the finals in the 100-meter dash in a wind-aided time of 11.0 seconds. (The record-setting time was not credited as a [[list of world records in athletics|world record]], because the wind, at {{convert|2.75|m|yard}} per second, exceeded the maximum of {{convert|2|m|yard}}.) Rudolph became the first American woman to win a gold medal in the 100-meter race since Helen Stephens did so in the [[1936 Summer Olympics]].<ref name=espn/><ref name=RomanConquest/> Rudolph won another gold medal in the finals of the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.0 seconds, after setting a new Olympic record of 23.2 seconds in the opening heat.<ref name=Bio-WR/> After these wins, she was hailed throughout the world as "the fastest woman in history."<ref name=Bio-WR/>

On September 7, 1960, the temperature climbed toward {{convert|40|C|F}} as thousands of spectators jammed the stadium. Rudolph combined efforts with her Olympic teammates from Tennessee State—[[Martha Hudson]], Lucinda Williams, and Barbara Jones—to win the 4 × 100-meter relays with a time of 44.5 seconds, after setting a world record of 44.4 seconds in the semifinals. Rudolph ran the anchor leg for the American team in the finals and nearly dropped the baton after a pass from Williams, but she overtook Germany's anchor leg to win the relay in a close finish.<ref name=bbc/><ref name="guardianolysrs"/> Rudolph had a special, personal reason to hope for victory—to pay tribute to [[Jesse Owens]], the celebrated American athlete and star of the [[1936 Summer Olympics]] in [[Berlin]], [[Germany]], who had been her inspiration.<ref>Biracree (1988), p. 16.</ref>

Rudolph was one of the most popular athletes of the 1960 Rome Olympics and emerged from the Olympic Games as "The Tornado, the fastest woman on earth."<ref name=Biracree82>Tom Biracree (1988), ''Wilma Rudolph'', p. 82.</ref> The Italians nicknamed her "La Gazzella Nera" ("The Black Gazelle").<ref>{{cite book|author=Jan Onofrio|title=Tennessee Biographical Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zyw4bSvQxJUC&pg=RA1-PA228|date=1 June 1999|publisher=North American Book Dist LLC|isbn=978-0-403-09700-5|page=1}}</ref> The French called her "La Perle Noire" ("The Black Pearl"), as well as "La Chattanooga Choo-Choo.<ref name=Biracree82/><ref name=Time-FastestFemale>{{cite journal| title =The Fastest Female | journal =Time Time | date = September 19, 1960 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,826652,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070306125327/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,826652,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 6, 2007 |access-date = February 9, 2017}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>"'Sportin Life' with Dennis J. Harrington Wilma Rudolph' a Sprinter Named Desire'." ''Chicago Metro News'', 12 July 1975, p. PAGE 18.</ref> Along with other 1960 Olympic athletes such as [[Cassius Clay]] (later known as Muhammad Ali), [[Oscar Robertson]], and [[Rafer Johnson]], Rudolph became an international star due to the first worldwide television coverage of the Olympics that year.<ref>{{cite book|author=Amy Ruth|title=Wilma Rudolph|publisher=Lerner Publications|year=2000|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/wilmarudolph00ruth/page/34 34, 61]|isbn=978-0-8225-4976-5|url=https://archive.org/details/wilmarudolph00ruth/page/34}} See also: {{Cite book|title =Tennessee Encyclopedia of History & Culture|author=Carroll Van West|publisher = Tennessee Historical Society and Rutledge Hill Press|year =1998|isbn =1558535993 |location =Nashville|page = 813}}</ref> The 1960 Rome Olympics launched her into the public spotlight and the media cast her as America's athletic "leading lady" and a "queen," with praises of Rudolph's athletic accomplishments as well as her feminine beauty and poise.<ref>Liberti and Smith, pp. 42, 46.</ref>

===Post-Olympic career===
[[File: Wilma Rudolph.jpg|thumb|left|Rudolph at the finish line during the 50-yard dash at the track meet at Madison Square Garden in 1961]]

Rudolph returned home to Clarksville after completing a post-games European tour, where she and her Olympic teammates competed in meets in [[London]], [[West Germany]], the [[Netherlands]], and at other venues in [[Europe]]. Rudolph's hometown of Clarksville celebrated "Welcome Wilma Day" on October 4, 1960, with a full day of festivities. Governor Buford Ellington had created these plans to welcome Rudolph home with a parade. Ellington was elected because he had old fashioned segregationist beliefs. This was the complete opposite of what Rudolph stood for. Rudolph heard this and refused to attend her own celebration of it being segregated. Due to the concert of Rudolph not attending her own event, the parade was changed to be integrated. She makes everlasting history by standing up for what she believes in as this marks the first ever integrated event in her hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee. An estimated 1,100 attended the banquet in Rudolph's honor and thousands lined the city streets to watch the parade.<ref name="guardianolysrs"/><ref>Liberti and Smith, pp. 18–19, 39.</ref>

Rudolph's gold-medal victories in Rome also "propelled her to become one of the most highly visible black women across the United States and around the world."<ref>Liberti and Smith, p. 13.</ref> Her Olympic star status also "gave an enormous boost to the indoor track circuit in the months following the Olympic Games in Rome."<ref>Liberti and Smith, p. 45.</ref> In 1961, Rudolph competed in the prestigious, [[Los Angeles Invitational]] indoor track meet, where thousands turned out to watch her run. Besides, Rudolph was invited to compete in [[New York Athletic Club]] track events and became the first woman invited to compete at the Millrose Games. She was also invited to compete at the [[Penn Relays]] and the [[Drake Relays]], among others.<ref name=NBAW958-61/><ref>Liberti and Smith, pp. 49–50, 55.</ref>

Following Rudolph's Olympic victories, the United States Information Agency made a 10-minute documentary film, ''Wilma Rudolph: Olympic Champion'' (1961), to highlight her accomplishments on the track.<ref name=LS83-85>Liberti and Smith, pp. 83–85.</ref> Rudolph's appearance in 1960 on ''[[To Tell the Truth]]'', an American television game show, and later as a guest on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' also helped promote her status as an iconic sports star.<ref>Liberti and Smith, pp. 16, 42, 46.</ref>

In 1961, Rudolph married William Ward, a North Carolina College at Durham track team member;<ref name=Eagle/> they divorced in 1963.<ref name=LS-98>Liberti and Smith, p. 98.</ref> In the interim, Rudolph retired from track competition at age 22, following victories in the 100-meter and 4 × 100-meter-relay races at the U.S.–[[Soviet Union|Soviet]] meet at Stanford University in 1962.<ref name=USATF>{{cite web | title =Wilma Rudolph | publisher =USA Track and Field | url =http://www.legacy.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=141 | access-date =November 16, 2013 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20130423092652/http://www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=141 | archive-date =April 23, 2013 | url-status =dead }}</ref> At the time of her retirement, Rudolph was still the world record-holder in the 100-meter (11.2 seconds set on July 19, 1961), 200-meter (22.9 seconds set on July 9, 1960), and 4 × 100-meter-relay events. She had also won seven national AAU sprint titles and set the women's indoor track record of 6.9 seconds in the 60-yard dash. As Rudolph explained it, she retired at the peak of her athletic career because Rudolph wanted to leave the sport while still at her best. As such, Rudolph did not compete at the [[1964 Summer Olympic Games]] in [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]],<ref name=RomanConquest/><ref name=USATF/> saying, "If I won two gold medals, there would be something lacking. I'll stick with the glory I've already won like Jesse Owens did in 1936."<ref name=RomanConquest/>

After retiring from competition, Rudolph continued her education at Tennessee State and earned a [[bachelor's degree]] in elementary education in 1963.<ref name=Hine-992-93/><ref name=s22/> That same year, she made a month-long trip to [[West Africa]] as a goodwill ambassador for the [[United States Department of State|U.S State Department]]. Rudolph served as U.S. representative to the 1963 Friendship Games in [[Dakar]], [[Senegal]], and visited [[Ghana]], [[Guinea]], [[Mali]], and [[Republic of Upper Volta|Upper Volta]], where she attended sporting events, visited schools, and made guest appearances on television and radio broadcasts. Rudolph also attended the premiere of the U.S. Information Agency's documentary film that highlighted her track career.<ref>Liberti and Smith, pp. 91–94.</ref>

In May 1963, a few weeks after returning from Africa, Rudolph participated in a civil rights protest in her hometown of Clarksville to desegregate one of the city's restaurants. Within a short time, the mayor announced that the city's public facilities, including its restaurants, would become fully integrated.<ref>Liberti and Smith, pp. 88, 96.</ref> Rudolph also married Robert Eldridge, who had fathered her child when she was in high school, later that year. The couple had three additional children,<ref name=NBAW958-61/><ref name=Hine-992-93/> but divorced after 17 years of marriage.<ref name=s23/>