Alice Coachman, the first African-American woman to win Olympic gold, has died. She was 90. The Albany, Ga. native made her historic mark at the 1948 London Olympics in the high jump category. Coachman was the only American woman to win a gold medal at the London games.
Coachman was born November 9, 1923, the fifth of 10 children. Growing up in the deep South, segregation and racism was Coachman’s reality, so she often had to run barefoot on dirt roads. When she entered Madison High School, she worked out with the boy’s track coach. Her athletic ability paid off and at age 16, Coachman began attending Tuskegee University That year, she also won a reported 10 straight national track titles according to USA Track and Field.
Because of World War II, Coachman did not compete in the 1940 and 1944 Olympic games. In an Associated Press interview in 1996, Coachman said she was at her peak then and thinks she could have won two gold medals 50 and 200-yard dash events.
“In 1944, I was really ready,” Coachman said then to the AP.
Little Known Black History Fact: Alice Coachman was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
