Skip to content
Wilma Rudolph

File:Wilma_Rudolph_1960.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ31083· pop 56· linked from 1,035 articles

Wilma Rudolph

Sign in to save

Also known as Wilma G. Rudolph, Wilma Glodean Rudolph, Black Gazelle

American athlete (1940–1994)

OverviewAI-generated

Wilma Rudolph (1940–1994) was an American sprinter who represented the United States in athletics. Born in Clarksville, Tennessee, she was an African American woman who attended Tennessee State University. Rudolph competed in the women's 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay events at the 1960 Summer Olympics, as well as the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics. She had a medical condition of poliomyelitis.

Rudolph received the James E. Sullivan Award, the Associated Press Athlete of the Year, and induction into the National Women's Hall of Fame. She died in Brentwood and was buried in Tennessee. Her name in her native language is Wilma Glodean Rudolph.

Synthesized by Vinony from 29 facts across 5 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born
1940
Works
2

Top works

  • Wilma Rudolph on track
  • Wilma

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Active from
1964

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Vilma
Gender
female
Citizenship
United States
Place of birth
Tennessee
Place of death
Brentwood
Occupation
sprinter
Languages spoken
English language
Country for sport
United States
Mass
59
Image
Wilma Rudolph (1960).jpg
Height
180
Number of children
4
Show 11 more facts
Commons category
Wilma Rudolph
date of birth
1940-06-23
date of death
1994-11-12
medical condition
poliomyelitis
sports discipline competed in
sprinting
ethnic group
African Americans
name in native language
Wilma Glodean Rudolph
on focus list of Wikimedia project
Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
manner of death
natural causes
Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

~29 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Wilma Glodean Rudolph (June 23, 1940 – November 12, 1994) 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.

With the worldwide television coverage of the 1960 Summer Olympics, Rudolph became an international star, along with other Olympic athletes such as Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali), Oscar Robertson, and Rafer Johnson.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Wilma Rudolph” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (4)