Wilma Rudolph was a track star. She got polio, scarlet fever and double pneumonia when she was 4 and could not walk normally until she was 11 years old. She was born on June 23 in 1940 in Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee. She died by a brain tumor at the age of 54. She was the first woman to win three track and field gold medals at a single Olympic Games in Rome, Italy in 1960. She retired and became a coach. She fought for equal rights, too. When she came back from Rome her town wanted to have a parade for her. She said only if everyone is allowed to come. She got her way. Wilma Glodean Rudolph was a great runner and a good person.

She wrote: "I would be very disappointed if I were only remembered as a runner because I feel that my contribution to the youth of America has far exceeded the women who was the Olympic champion."

In 1958 she joined the Ed the track running club. She stared school at the age of 7 in 1947. Wilma followed her sisters foot steeps and went on the basketball team.