Wilma Rudolph

Biography

Wilma Glodean Rudolph was an American sprinter who overcame polio as a child and went on to become a world-record-holding Olympic champion and international sports icon in track and field following her successes in the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games. Rudolph competed in the 200-meter dash and won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100-meter relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics at Melbourne, Australia. She also won three gold medals, in the 100- and 200-meter individual events and the 4 × 100-meter relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. Rudolph was acclaimed as the fastest woman in the world in the 1960s; she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games.