The character arc of Wilma Rudolph
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 23 June 1940 in Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee, prematurely, at four and a half pounds, the twentieth of twenty two children. Between then and her death sit pneumonia and scarlet fever, polio at five that took the strength from her left leg, a leg brace until she was twelve, a hundred mile round trip by bus every week for two years because the local hospitals would not treat her, four massages a day from her family, basketball, a coach who called her Skeeter, an Olympic bronze at sixteen, three gold medals in Rome at twenty, a degree, and a career teaching and coaching. The line below draws the whole story.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who was Wilma Rudolph?
A brace until she was twelve. Fastest woman alive at twenty.
She was born early and small, four and a half pounds, the twentieth of twenty two children from her father two marriages. Her father was a railway porter who did odd jobs and her mother was a maid. She had pneumonia and scarlet fever as a small child, and at five she caught polio. She recovered from it but lost the strength in her left leg and foot, and wore a leg brace.
What got it off her is the part worth knowing. There was little medical care available to African American residents of Clarksville in the 1940s, so for two years she and her mother took a bus fifty miles each way to Nashville, every week, for treatment at a historically black medical college. At home, members of her family massaged the leg four times a day. She wore an orthopaedic shoe for two years after that. By twelve she could walk without either.
She had missed kindergarten and first grade and was taught at home. She started at school properly at seven. At her all-black high school she played basketball, scored 803 points in one season as a sophomore and set a state record, and her coach nicknamed her Skeeter, for mosquito, because she moved so fast. A university track coach watched her play basketball and recognised what she was, and invited her at fourteen to his summer programme. At her first meet afterwards she won all nine events she entered.
She went to the 1956 Olympics at sixteen, the youngest member of the American team, went out in a heat of the 200 metres and came home with a relay bronze. She showed it to her classmates and decided she was going to win gold in Rome. In her final year of school she had her first child, and enrolled at Tennessee State a few weeks later.
In Rome, in 1960, in forty degree heat, she won the 100 metres, the 200 metres and the relay, in which she nearly dropped the baton and then ran down the German anchor leg to win it. She was the first American woman to win three golds in track and field at one Games, and the television coverage made her an international star. She retired in 1962 at the peak, holding world records at 100 metres, 200 metres and in the relay, graduated in 1963 and became a teacher and a coach. She died of cancer in 1994, at fifty four.
The moments
Wilma Rudolph's timeline.
The 1940s
Four and a half pounds
Setback, and it changed everything. Early, tiny, and the twentieth of twenty two.
Polio at five
Setback, and it changed everything. Pneumonia, scarlet fever, and then polio.
Fifty miles, every week
Milestone, and it changed everything. Her mother took her a hundred miles a week, on a bus.
The 1950s
The brace comes off
Milestone, and it changed everything. Twelve years old, and walking unaided.
Skeeter
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Eight hundred and three points in a season.
Basketball, or the track camp
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: go to the track camp, taken, or stay with basketball. She won all nine events at her first meet, and six years later she was the fastest woman in the world.
A coach spots her
Milestone, and it changed everything. Nine events entered, nine events won.
Bronze at sixteen
Milestone, and it changed everything. The youngest on the team, and home with a medal.
She decides on gold
Milestone, and it changed everything. She showed the class the bronze and said gold, next time.
Yolanda, and university
Everyday, and it changed her direction. A baby, and then university a few weeks later.
The 1960s
Gold in the 100
Milestone, and it changed everything. Fastest woman in the world, at twenty.
Three golds in Rome
Milestone, and it changed everything. She nearly dropped the baton and then ran them all down.
The most visible woman
Milestone, and it changed everything. Everybody could see her, which was the point.
She stops at the top
Milestone, and it changed everything. She walked away holding three world records.
A teacher and a coach
Milestone, and it changed her direction. She paid for the degree two hours a day, then went and taught.
The 1990s
She dies at fifty four
Setback, and it changed everything. Fifty four, and a stamp with her face on it.
There is a postage stamp, there are documentaries, and there are a great many childrens books. What she set moving was the sight of her on television in 1960, which changed what a very large number of girls thought was available to them, and which is exactly why so many of those books exist.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
Hers turned on a mother who got on a bus fifty miles each way, every week, for two years. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Wilma Rudolph: frequently asked questions
What people ask about her line.
What is Wilma Rudolph's character arc?
Did Wilma Rudolph have polio?
How many gold medals did Wilma Rudolph win?
What happened at the Melbourne Olympics for Wilma Rudolph?
Why was Wilma Rudolph called Skeeter?
What did Wilma Rudolph do after athletics?
Where does this timeline of Wilma Rudolph's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with her.
Sources
- Wilma Rudolph, English Wikipedia biography.
- Her Olympic record from Melbourne in 1956 and Rome in 1960.
- Contemporary accounts of her treatment at Meharry Medical College, as cited there.
- The documentary films and the made-for-television movie about her life.