Editing Wilma Rudolph (section)

===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>