Wilma Rudolph was born in Clarksville in June 1940, when she was 4 years old, she caught double pneumonia and scarlet fever and this illness created paralysis in her left leg.

Wilma's mother drove her to Nashville once a week for physical therapy.

Finally, by age 8 Wilma could walk with a leg brace and by the age of 11 she was playing Sports..and then she emotionally stated that "My doctor told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother."

Wilma Rudolph Was a remarkable feat for a girl who had grown up poor and crippled in the segregate South.

Wilma Rudolph sprinted to 3 gold medals in the 1960 Rome Olympics, becoming the fastest woman in the world and an inspiration to athletes everywhere ~ and a role model to African American females

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Wilma Rudolph Top Ten Sports Quotes

"I knew the best way to cheer him up was to win myself ~ and win well."

"The triumph can't be had without the struggle."

"My doctor told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother."

My mother taught me very early to believe I could achieve any accomplishment I wanted to. The first was to walk without braces.

"I don't know why I run so fast. I just run."

"Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose."

"I believe in me more than anything in this world."

"I don't consciously try to be a role model, so I don't know if I am or not. That's for other people to decide."

"By the time I was 12 I was challenging every boy in our the neighborhood at running, jumping, everything,"

"I tell them that the most important aspect is to be yourself and have confidence in yourself. I remind them the triumph can't be had without the struggle."