Her father Ed was a porter on railroad cars. It was usually his job to assist the travelers, taking their luggage and putting it on the train and then removing it and giving it back when the trip was complete. He would also do odd jobs around Clarksville to make extra money when he could. He died in 1961.

Blanche Rudolph, her mother, was a maid. She traveled the town each day cleaning houses for her clients. She was also probably the more involved of the two in her daughter’s life; after a long day of cleaning Blanche would massage her daughter’s polio-stricken legs well into the evening, always telling Wilma that she would walk one day without braces. She also died in 1961.

1. Rudolph was the first female American runner to net three gold medals at the Olympics.
2. Rudolph suffered much when she was young, and could barely walk unassisted until she turned 11. She got polio when she was only four years old.
3. Her sign was Cancer.
4. Her full name was ‘Wilma Glodean Rudolph’.
5. Rudolph was a teacher and coach after her retirement from active athletics.
6. Rudolph was the 20th children out of 22.
7. Despite her skill Rudolph felt that her speed was waning by the time of the 1964 Olympics, and she opted not to participate.

June 23, 1940: Rudolph is born in Clarksville, Tennessee

1944: Rudolph is diagnosed with polio; she begins therapy to help her legs

1952: Rudolph begins to walk to help her legs adjust; her mother begins taking her to physical therapy to improve her walking; soon she’s able to move without being forced to wear special shoes

1956: After honing her skills (and legs) in high school, Rudolph earns a place on the U.S. Olympic Track team; she earns a bronze medal in the 4 x 100-meter relay

1960: Rudolph wins three gold medals and one bronze at the Summer Olympics in Rome; she comes to be known as “the fastest woman in history”

1963: Earns a full scholarship to Tennessee State University; also marries high school boyfriend Robert Elridge

1977: Rudolph publishes her autobiography; in the same year a televised version of her life is broadcast

1981: She establishes the Wilma Rudolph Foundation to assist young athletes

1994: Is diagnosed with throat cancer; dies soon after on November 12 at her home in Brentwood, Tennessee

The Governor’s Square Mall is a general consumer outlet with plenty of stores to keep your consumerist mind busy. Need some electronics? Best Buy or Gamestop can probably help. Clothing, maybe? Gap, Gap Kids, American Eagle and Old Navy are waiting for you. Or are you just looking to wander from one department to the next in search of anything that might catch your fancy? Check out JCPenny, Sears or Toys “R” Us.

Though you won’t get much of a feeling of the history behind Wilma Rudolph, you’ll certainly not think the mall a waste of time. Check it out if you’re in the area.

Wilma Rudolph died of cancer in 1994, she had been diagnosied with brain and throat cancer, saddly she isn’t the only famous person to have to battle the diease, here’s a list of high profile brain cancer fighters:

• Lyle Alzado, 43, Football Player

• Lance Armstrong, Seven-time Tour de France Champion

• Lee Atwater, 40, Chairman, Republican National Committee

• James Batten, 59, CEO, Knight Ridder Newspapers

• Becky Bisoulis, 56, Fashion Designer

• Johnnie Cochran, 68, Defense attorney

• Dan Duva, 44, Boxing Promoter

• John Galsworthy, 66, Nobel Prize-winning Novelist

• George Gershwin, 36, Composer

• Scott Hamilton, Olympic and World Figure Skating Champion

• George Harrison, 58, Lead guitarist, The Beatles

• Dick Howser, 50, Manager, Kansas City Royals

• Reginald Lewis, 53, CEO, TLC Beatrice

• Bob Marley, 36, Reggae Singer

• Frank Edward “Tug” McGraw, 59, Professional Baseball Player

• Megan O’Connell, 30, International Model

• Slim Pickens, 64, Actor

• Dan Quisenberry, 45, Pitcher, Kansas City Royals

• Lou Rawls, 72, Singer

• Pete Rozelle, 70, NFL Commissioner

• Mark Ruffalo, Actor

• Gene Siskel, 53, Film Critic

• Deke Slayton, 47, Astronaut

• Dawn Steele, 51, First Female Hollywood Movie Studio Executive

• Annette Strauss, 74, Former Dallas Mayor

• Robert Swanson, 52, Biotechnology Pioneer & Founder of Genentech

• Mike Synar, 45, U.S. Congressman

• Elizabeth Taylor, Actress

• Michael Walsh, 51, CEO, Tenneco

And her legacy lives on today, in several forms. A boulevard is named in her honor in Tennessee, her state of birth. A life-sized statue of her stands in that same state. And, most importantly, the Women’s Sports Foundation Wilma Rudolph Courage Award is given out to any female athlete who demonstrates particular prowess and courage in carrying out their dreams (particularly important for Rudolph, given that the majority of her career took place in a time that wasn’t friendly to blacks.

The first of these awards was given out to Jackie Joyner-Kersee in 1996 for her prowess in pulling off the heptathlon and the long jump in several Olympic games from 1984 to 1996.

But that didn’t stop her, nor did it stop Rudolph’s mother. Every night after a long day of hard work her mother would come home and rub Rudolph’s legs and administer home remedies, all the while promising her daughter that she would indeed walk without braces one day.

And that came true, obviously. By the time she was in high school Rudolph was a basketball star and well on her way to Olympic fame. Her success really does prove that even the possible can be made possible.

And what a family! The Wilma Rudolph family would reach 22 children by the end of Rudolph’s tenure with it, and several of them – Rudolph’s sister included, who was a star basketball player – excelled in sports. And despite polio-stricken legs that initially kept her bed-bound, Rudolph would quickly follow in their footsteps. Her polio was eventually done away with by her mother’s slew of home remedies and constant care, often administered after long days at work.

Her mother promised Rudolph that she would one day walk without her braces, and that promise came true. But could her mother have ever anticipated the heights to which Rudolph soared just a few years later?

Rudolph was born in 1940 in St. Bethlehem, Clarkesville, Tennessee, the twentieth of what would be a twenty-two child strong family. Though Rudolph originally had polio and was forced to wear a cast on her legs, she eventually shed the handicap and went on to become a star on her high school basketball team. From there she was recruited – thanks to her raw talent – to an Olympic-caliber.

At the ripe age of 16 she not only joined the U.S. Olympic track team, she won the bronze medal in the four by 100-meter relay race. And her skills would only improve from there, to the point that she was winning gold medals in no time.