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Quick Facts
- NAME: Wilma Rudolph
- OCCUPATION: Track and Field Athlete
- BIRTH DATE: June 23, 1940
- DEATH DATE: November 12, 1994
- EDUCATION: Tennessee State University, Burt High School
- PLACE OF BIRTH: St. Bethlehem, Tennessee
- PLACE OF DEATH: Brentwood, Tennessee
- Nickname: "Skeeter"
- Full Name: Wilma Glodean Rudolph
- AKA: Wilma Rudolph
Best Known For
In 1960, Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games.
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Play NowWilma Rudolph. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 04:37, Jun 19, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/wilma-rudolph-9466552.
Wilma Rudolph. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/wilma-rudolph-9466552 [Accessed 19 Jun 2013].
"Wilma Rudolph." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Jun 19 2013, 04:37 http://www.biography.com/people/wilma-rudolph-9466552.
"Wilma Rudolph," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/wilma-rudolph-9466552 [accessed Jun 19, 2013].
"Wilma Rudolph," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/wilma-rudolph-9466552 (accessed Jun 19, 2013).
Wilma Rudolph [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 Jun 19] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/wilma-rudolph-9466552.
Wilma Rudolph, http://www.biography.com/people/wilma-rudolph-9466552 (last visited Jun 19, 2013).
Wilma Rudolph. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/wilma-rudolph-9466552. Accessed Jun 19, 2013.
Her book was later turned into a TV film. In the 1980s, she was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame and established the Wilma Rudolph Foundation to promote amateur athletics. Wilma Rudolph died on November 12, 1994, near Nashville, Tennessee, losing a battle with brain cancer.
Rudolph is remembered as one of the fastest women in track and as a source of great inspiration for generations of African-American athletes. She once stated, "Winning is great, sure,
but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. 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." In 2004, the United States Postal Service honored the Olympic champion by featuring her likeness on a 23-cent stamp.
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