THREE GOLD MEDALS FOR WILMA G304

 THREE GOLD MEDALS FOR WILMA

The stands were packed. People from all over the world were watching the greatest sports show of all—the Olympic Games.

The next race was the women's relay race, and it promised to be an exciting one. Teams from six countries were entered. The winning team would be champions of the world.

The crowd became silent as the teams took their places. Many eyes turned to a tall, 20-year-old black girl on the U.S. team. She was Wilma Rudolph, the fourth and last runner for the United States.

At the sound of the gun, the first runners shot from their starting points. Relay sticks in their hands, they raced to the second runners. The second runners, already moving, grabbed the sticks and raced on. Now the third runners had the sticks. And the runner for the U.S. team was in the lead! She dashed toward Wilma. Already running, Wilma reached for the stick. But her teammate almost dropped it. Wilma had to stop to get a good hold on the stick.

That moment's stop cost the U.S. its lead. A girl of the German team was flying two steps ahead of Wilma. Wilma urged herself "Faster! Faster!" Bit by bit she closed the gap. She caught up with the German girl. Then she pulled ahead. At the finishing line Wilma breasted the tape. She and her teammates ha taken first place!

It was a wonderful victory, even more wonderful than you might think. For Wilma hadn't even been able to walk for one third of her life!

Wilma Rudolph was the youngest child in a big family. Both parents worked in order to have enough money to raise the children. The older boys and girls were healthy, but Wilma was sick most of the time. She was barely walking at the age of four. Then she became seriously ill and for weeks was near death. She managed to pull through, but she couldn't move her left leg. It appeared that the little girl would probably never walk.

But Wilma's mother was determined to give her a chance. She wrapped Wilma in a blanket and took her by bus to a hospital 45 miles away. The doctors gave the little girl all kinds of tests. Finally they said that rubbing the little girl's leg might help. But she would have to be treated every day. And it might take years!

"I can't bring her here every day," Wilma's mother said. “Can you teach me?”

The doctors showed Mrs Rudolph what to do. “But you'll still have to bring her here to the hospital once a week,” they said.

Wilma's mother followed the doctors' orders. Every day after supper she rubbed Wilma's leg. She rubbed and rubbed until long after Wilma had fallen asleep. And on her day off once a week, she and Wilma made the 90-mile round trip to the hospital.

After a year the doctors said, “We think the leg is better. But it's hard to tell.”

That night Mrs Rudolph taught her three older children how to rub Wilma's leg. From then on, Wilma's leg got treated four times a day. “She's going to walk,” Mrs Rudolph said.

In another year, Wilma could manage a sort of hop. And at the age of eight she was walking a bit with the aid of a leg brace. That summer the doctors changed the brace for a special heavy shoe. In the fall, Wilma limped off to school.

Wilma's brother Wesley liked to play basketball. He had put up a basket on a pole in the back yard. To the family's surprise, Wilma was soon out in the yard— playing basketball. If the heavy shoe bothered her, she didn't seem to show it. When the other children stopped to rest, she kept on shooting baskets. “She's making up for all the playing she missed,” Wilma's mother said.

One day Wilma's mother went to the door to call everybody in for supper. She stopped in surprise. She couldn't believe it. Wilma was bouncing the ball around under the basket. And she was barefoot. She no longer needed the shoe!

Wilma more than made up for the playing she missed. In high school she became a track star. In college she won a national championship in the dashes.

Then came the tryouts for the Olympic Games. Wilma won the 100-and 200-meter dashes. She and her college teammates also tried out for the relay race. They won, which meant they would run for the United States.

How Wilma helped win the relay for the U.S. team in the Olympics is well known. But that wasn't all. She also won the 100-and 200-meter dashes, and in the 100-meter dash she had set a new world record. Wilma became the first American woman to win three Olympic gold medals in track!

What a wonderful victory for Wilma! And what a wonderful victory for Wilma's mother!