MOMS ON THE RUN

In honor of Black History Month, we want to celebrate a few Black female athletes that helped pave the way for all of us. We introduce you to Wilma Rudolph, who, despite being told as a child she would never walk again, overcame the odds to become the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field in a single Olympics (1960). She broke three world records and became known as the "fastest woman in the world."

As a child, however, she endured scarlet fever and polio, resulting in paralysis in her left leg at the age of 5. She was told she would never walk again, but by 11 her mother discovered her playing basketball outside. From that time on, she quickly turned to sports. After a chance meeting with a college coach, she turned to track and field.

In honor of Black History Month, we want to celebrate a few Black female athletes who helped pave the way for all of us. Today, we introduce you to Alice Coachman, who was the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. She competed and won the high jump in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London — her first global competition. 

Growing up, Coachman not only was unable to participate in organized sports because of the color of her skin, but also because she was female. According to her biography, she learned how to run barefoot and eventually worked her way onto her high school track team. She was offered a scholarship by the Tuskagee (AL) Preparatory School, where she competed in the Amateur Athletic Union's (AAU) women's national track and field championships. There, she broke college and national records in the 50- and 100-meter races, the 400-meter relay and high jump. She eventually earned degrees from both Tuskagee Institute and Albany College in Georgia.