Born prematurely on June 23, 1940, in Clarksville, Tennessee, Wilma Rudolph was the 20th of 22 children. She weighed only 4.5 pounds at birth and faced an uphill battle from the start.
The odds were already stacked against her — born into poverty in the segregated American South, the daughter of a railroad porter and a domestic worker. But things were about to get much worse.
Even before Wilma contracted polio, she had been stricken with measles, whooping cough, scarlet fever, and double pneumonia — the last two of which almost killed her. Then, at age four, polio struck and paralysed her left leg entirely.
Her doctor delivered the verdict plainly: she would never walk again.
Because there was little medical care available to African Americans in Clarksville in the 1940s, Rudolph's mother sought treatment at the historically Black Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee — about 50 miles away. For two years, she and Wilma made weekly bus trips for treatment to regain the use of her weakened leg.
Rudolph also received at-home massage treatments four times a day from members of her family, and wore an orthopedic shoe for further support.
"My doctor told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother."
Progress was agonisingly slow. At the age of six, Rudolph began to hop on one leg. By eight she could move around with a leg brace. At eleven, her mother discovered her playing basketball outside.
Rudolph wore a leg brace until she was 12 years old. Then — impossibly, miraculously — she began to run.
Her athleticism began to blossom in high school, where she starred in basketball and track. It was there that Tennessee State University track coach Ed Temple noticed her. He invited her to his summer training programme, which became a turning point in her life.
After a year of rigorous training, Rudolph managed to qualify for the US Olympic Track and Field Team for the 1956 Melbourne Games. She was the youngest member of the United States team at just 16, and came away with a bronze medal in the 4×100m relay.
She went home with a bronze and a burning hunger for gold.
The 1960 Rome Games were the first Olympics to be televised, but nobody could have predicted what they were about to witness. In the space of eight days, Rudolph ran nine races.
She won gold in the 100 metres. Gold in the 200 metres — setting an Olympic record in the heats. Then, in the 4×100 relay, Rudolph nearly dropped the baton, but — determined to win and pay tribute to her inspiration Jesse Owens — she overtook the United Team of Germany in a close finish to claim a third gold.
She was dubbed "The Black Gazelle" by the European press for her speed, beauty, and grace. She became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games.
The girl in the leg brace was now the fastest woman in the world.
When Rudolph returned home to Clarksville, the town wanted to throw her a victory parade. She agreed — on one condition. She insisted her victory parade and banquet be integrated. The city complied. It was the first fully integrated public event in the town's history.
Countless athletes — including Florence Griffith Joyner, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Allyson Felix — have cited her as a direct inspiration.
Rudolph was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1980 and later established the Wilma Rudolph Foundation, to encourage community-based track and field programmes as well as academic assistance and support.
"The triumph can't be had without the struggle." — Wilma Rudolph