Wilma Rudolph Thesis

Wilma Rudolph

Can you imagine that the fastest woman in the world had trouble walking when she was little? Wilma Rudolph was born in Tennessee on June 23, 1940. At this time in history, blacks were separated from whites in the whole south. They were not allowed to eat in the same restaurant or go to the same school. Wilma Rudolph was born two months early to Blanche and Ed Rudolph (Sherrow 7). Wilma’s mom did laundry and housekeeping, and her dad worked for the railroad. She was so fast when Wilma was in school her coach gave Wilma a nickname, “Skeeter,” because she was always busying around like a mosquito (Sherrow 19). Even though Wilma Rudolph had Polio as a young child, and the doctors said she would not be able to walk, she grew up

Wilma went to physical therapy with her mom two times a week at a black hospital. It was hard to get to because it was 50 miles away and Wilma and her mom had to take a bus to get there. Wilma’s family never stopped encouraging her to do her exercises to help her walk. Wilma’s teacher also encouraged her. She said “Don’t dream about it. Wilma, I want you to do it” (Schraff 18). Wilma’s teacher was teaching her to never give up. Wima remembered this for the rest of her life. When her coach put her on the bench she never gave up. On the bench she would study the game and winning plays. Then she started racing. After losing one race Wilma said “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” (Sherrow 24). Wilma realized that an important quality is being able to pick yourself up after a defeat. Wilma’s mother encouraged her to be a good runner in order to get a college scholarship. Later Wilma met the famous baseball player Jackie Robinson. He complimented her on her athletic abilities and said “Don’t let anything, or anybody, keep you from running“ (Sherrow 26). This meant a lot to her. She later wrote “For the first time in my life, I had a black person I could look up to as a real hero” (Sherrow 26). Jackie Robinson was Wilma’s first black

When she was finally put to play in the basketball game, she surprised people by scoring 32 points. On her first Olympic team, she was the youngest at 16 (Sherrow 26). In the 1960 Olympics, the American team was not expected to win any medals but Wilma helped them win many medals. In one race, Wilma surprised people by running 100 meters in 11.3 seconds and one race she won by running in just 24.0 seconds leaving her competitors far behind. During the Olympics, Wilma and the relay team set a world record. Then she won two gold medals and received a lot of attention. Wilma’s victory