Wilma Rudolph was a track and field athlete who shined on the world stage during the 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics. She became the first American to win three gold medals at a single Summer Olympics. The Tennessee native was born on June 23, 1940.Rudolph was the twentieth of her father’s 22 children from two marriages and was raised primarily in the town of Clarksville. She suffered from polio as a child after being born prematurely but her family’s dedication helped her receive physical therapy and medical care so that she could eventually walk without leg braces.
