Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 13, 1994 TAG: 9411140087
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NASHVILLE, TENN. LENGTH: Medium
Rudolph, who had been in and out of a hospital in recent months since brain cancer was diagnosed, died at her home, said family friend Dwight Lewis.
At 4, Rudolph was stricken with double pneumonia, followed immediately by scarlet fever.
``We thought she would die,'' said her mother, Blanche Rudolph.
Later, the girl contracted a mild form of polio.
``All I can remember is being ill and bedridden,'' Rudolph said of her early childhood.
At 9, a cumbersome brace on her left leg was replaced by a high-top shoe. Although it allowed her to walk normally, shooting down doctors' predictions, she couldn't run, jump or skip like other youngsters.
With perseverance, she became more mobile and evolved into a high school basketball player who once scored a state record 49 points in one game.
At 15, in her first major track meet, she won every heat and final and earned a place on the 1956 U.S. Olympic team. She won a bronze medal in the 400-meter relay the Games in Melbourne.
At the 1960 Olympics at Rome, she won the 100-meter gold medal in a wind-aided 11.0 seconds, after tying the world record of 11.3 in the semifinals. She won the 200 meters in 24.0, after an Olympic record of 23.2 in her opening heat.
Then she combined with three Tennessee State teammates to win the 400-meter relay in 44.5, following a world record of 44.4 in the semifinals.
After leaving the sport, Rudolph - elegant and well-spoken - entered the corporate world with the same persistence that had pushed her to the finish line. She became a U.S. goodwill ambassador to French West Africa, was co-host of a network radio show, held several business positions, coached at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., and worked the lecture circuit.
Her autobiography, ``Wilma,'' was made into a television movie.
by CNB