Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 13, 1994 TAG: 9411230021
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Hardly anyone expected Wilma Rudolph to become an athlete, never mind a triple Olympic gold medalist, not after suffering from pnuemonia, scarlet fever and polio as a youngster.
Hardly anyone was more of an inspiration to youngsters, not only in the United States but throughout the world, encouraging them to improve their lives, especially through the healthy form of athletics, than Rudolph.
Hardly anyone lit up a room more than the vibrant, elegant Rudolph, her radiant personality enveloping those within reach.
Rudolph's death Saturday from brain cancer at the relatively young age of 54 left a huge void, not only in the sports world, but in the world in general.
Ed Temple, her coach at Tennessee State and her long-time friend and confidante, called Rudolph ``a fighter,'' because of all the adversity and obstacles she faced in order to overcome her illnesses.
She also was a pioneer, opening the way for women athletes to gain respectability.
She was a teacher, imparting her knowledge and wisdom of life and athletics to aspiring youngsters, many of them underprivileged.
And she was a role model, even if she didn't acknowledge it.
``I don't consciously try to be a role model, so I don't know if I'm a role model or not,'' she said. ``That's for other people to decide.''
Many people looked upon her with that aura.
``I can walk into a kindergarten class or any school room and all the kids will recognize me - they know who I am,'' she said proudly, not boastfully.
While Rudolph could easily have talked about her past during her lectures to school children, she preferred not to discuss her accomplishments, including winning the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes and running on the winning U.S. 400-meter relay team at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.
``I try not to live in the past,'' Rudolph said. ``But I do so much lecturing and what people want to hear is the Wilma Rudolph story.''
The story is heartwarming and remarkable.
Rudolph was told she would not walk - never mind run - as a child, after being stricken with double pnuemonia, then scarlet fever at age 4. Her mother thought she would die.
Then, when doctors determined that Rudolph had a mild form of polio and her chances of walking became even slimmer, she never gave up hope. Finally, at 9, she was able to walk with braces.
With the help and encouragement of her large family - she had 21 brothers and sisters - Rudolph eventually could not only walk, but run and jump like other kids.
She also was growing rapidly, and by the time she was a high school junior, she was 6 feet. Her size and perserverance combined to make her a scholastic basketball star in Tennessee.
Her sudden speed and agility caught the eye of Temple, who invited her to participate in his summer track program. Under Temple, she became an Olympic great and an international heroine.
Leroy Walker, president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, knew Rudolph since her days at Tennessee State, first as a coach, then an administrator. He remembered seeing her first Olympic races at Melbourne in 1956, where she won a relay bronze medal.
``You could tell right away that all the people in her events were in big trouble,'' he said.
At Rome, Rudolph was dominant.
``You look at all of the things that Flo-Jo [Florence Griffith Joyner] accomplished, as far as records,'' Walker said. ``And, it's like I think about what it would have been like - as with Jesse Owens - what it would have been like if he had the synthetic tracks and the starting blocks that we have today. And what would it have been if Wilma had those tracks and blocks, in terms of what times she would have had?
``You look at Rome. She won the 100 by 2-3 meters, which is unheard of at that level of competition. She won the 200 by an even larger margin. And there was no one even in the picture when she won the 4-by-100. She was one of the classics.''
by CNB