No Ordinary Fool

For the final part of this mini-series looking back on moments of great drama in Olympics track & field history, there is a veritable queue around the corner of possible contenders - be it Abele Bikila setting a world best time for the marathon in 1960, whilst running in bare feet, or Paavo Nurmi winning nine gold and three silver medals across thee Olympiads in the 1920s, or Bob Beamon’s gravity-defying leap in the 1968 Mexico Games that would go unsurpassed for over two decades, or Fanny Blankers-Koen winning four gold medals in 1948, or the incomparable Emile Zapotek claiming the men’s 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres, and marathon titles four years later.

However, the final story belongs to Wilma Rudolph of the United States. She was the twentieth of twenty-two children to be born into a dirt-poor family in Tennessee in 1940. At her premature birth, she weighed a scant 4.5lbs. Whilst barely more than a toddler, she then contracted double pneumonia, polio, and scarlet fever. The illnesses were so debilitating that her left leg needed to be fitted with a metal brace, which she would wear for three years.

Once released from the brace, there suddenly seemed to be no stopping her. Although it would take several more years before she could walk completely unaided, she started playing basketball with her brothers at home. By the time that she was in high school, she was starting to draw the attention of Tennessee State University for her prowess at the sport. They would later give her a scholarship.

Moreover, she was fast. Very fast. Having also taken up athletics in school, Rudolph was selected for the 1956 Games on the USA’s 4 x 100 metres relay team. They took the bronze medal. She was still just 16.

1960 Olympic Games

Four years later, in Rome, the tiny mite at birth was now a 5′11″ gazelle and representing her country in the 100 metres, the 200 metres, and the 4 x 100 metres relay.

In the 100 metres, Rudolph equalled the world record of 11.3 seconds in the semi-finals. She then smashed that time in the final, running 11 seconds dead. However, the time could not be ratified as a new world record due to the tail wind being in excess of the permitted limit.

However, Rudolph was not to be denied, as she stormed into the final of the 200 metres with a world record time of 23.2 seconds before taking the title in 24 seconds flat.

Despite a poor handover then on her leg of the relay, Rudolph surged past her German rival to claim the third of her Olympic gold medal titles. She had anchored the same team to a world record time in the semi-finals.

Her Legacy

Upon returning home, Rudolph refused to take part in a segregated celebration of her achievements. Instead, her parade through her hometown of Clarksville and the subsequent banquet instead became the first integrated events to take place in her city.

Rudolph ceased to compete internationally in 1962 and graduated from Tennessee State University a year later. She would go on to a career in athletics coaching. More importantly, she became a source of inspiration for generations of young black female athletes in her country.

When I see all of these doped-up athletes nowadays running impossibly quick times, only to be caught or discredited afterwards, when I seem them destroying what was once my favourite sport, I like to think of Wilma Rudolph and what she achieved despite all of the adversities that life threw at her.

A teammate in the 1960’s US team described her thus, “She was beautiful, she was nice, and she was the best.” A remarkable, remarkable woman.