Wilma Rudolph was a premature baby, being born two months early. She was also a sick child, becoming very ill with double pneumonia and scarlet fever at age four. Then, she became infected with polio. However, Rudolph overcame all of these tribulations. Even with these serious illnesses, Rudolph still turned out to be one of the fastest women in the world and paved the way for African-American athletes in the future. Wilma Glodean Rudolph was born on June 23, 1940 in St. Bethlehem Tennessee. She was the twentieth sibling out of twenty-two. Her mother, Blanch Rudolph and her father, Ed Rudolph as well as the rest of her family did not believe that she would live because of her prematurity. When time came when Rudolph was ready for schooling, she could not go to school for the first few years because…show more content… She also couldn’t walk because of her polio. When she healed, Rudolph started in third grade at all black Cobb Elementary. She finally learned to walk without her leg brace and therefore started to play basketball in seventh grade. In spite of being able to run, walk, etc., Wilma made the team only because her sister Yvonne was on it. Since Wilma wasn’t good enough, coach Gray made Wilma sit out on games. This didn’t discourage Wilma though. Wilma took in and pondered the technique, and style of how each of the players played. Even as Wilma entered ninth grade and improved greatly, coach Gray still ignored her. Gray started a new sport at the school, track and field. Wilma immediately fell in love with running, and was good at it too. The book Wilma Rudolph, Track and Field Inspiration states a quote by Rudolph: “Running… was nothing but pure enjoyment for me,” she recalled. “I was doing it all on natural ability, and I had no idea about the technical aspects of the sport,” she admitted.” Being a track star got her a lot of attention in high school, and coach
