Early in her life, doctors told Wilma Rudolph she would never walk. She had a disease called polio, which crippled her leg. But Wilma proved the doctors wrong. Not only did she walk, she also ran—fast! By the time she was sixteen, she had an Olympic bronze medal. She went on to win three gold medals at the 1960 Olympic Games. Find out how this dedicated athlete beat the odds to become a champion.

A biography of the woman who overcame crippling polio as a child to become the first woman to win three gold medals in track in a single Olympics.

A biography of Wilma Rudolph, an African-American who overcame crippling polio as a child to become the first woman to win three gold medals in track during a single Olympics.

A series that let's young readers explore the lives and influence of important individuals whose stories and contributions have left an imprint on United States History. Includes primary source photographs, high-interest nonfiction text, fun facts, timelines, glossary and index.

In 1946, six-year-old Wilma Rudolph dreamed of walking and playing like other children, but a sickness called polio had damaged her left leg. Wilma spent hours each week doing painful exercises at a hospital for African American patients. The rest of the time, she was forced to wear a heavy and cumbersome leg-brace. Still, Wilma never gave up. She knew she could walk again, and if she could walk, maybe she could run. Author Victoria Sherrow tells how Wilma Rudolph's determination led her to the 1956 and 1960 Olympics where she gained fame as a champion runner. Larry Johnson's rich illustrations help to capture this true story of heroic strength and fearlessness.

Wilma Rudolph was born black in Jim Crow Tennessee. The twentieth of 22 children, she spent most of her childhood in bed suffering from whooping cough, scarlet fever, and pneumonia. She lost the use of her left leg due to polio and wore leg braces. With dedication and hard work, she became a gifted runner, earning a track and field scholarship to Tennessee State. In 1960, she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympic Games. Her underdog story made her into a media darling, and she was the subject of countless articles, a television movie, children’s books, biographies, and she even featured on a U.S. postage stamp. In this work, Smith and Liberti consider not only Rudolph’s achievements, but also the ways in which those achievements are interpreted and presented as historical fact. Theories of gender, race, class, and disability collide in the story of Wilma Rudolph, and Smith and Liberti examine this collision in an effort to more fully understand how history is shaped by the cultural concerns of the present. In doing so, the authors engage with the metanarratives which define the American experience and encourage more complex and nuanced interrogations of contemporary heroic legacy.

Growing up in the segregated town of Clarksville, Tennessee, in the 1960s, Alta's family cannot afford to buy her new sneakers--but she still plans to attend the parade celebrating her hero Wilma Rudolph's three Olympic gold medals.