Trailblazing Coachman dead
TRACK and field star Alice Coachman, who overcame segregation to become the first black woman to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games, died on Monday at age 90.
Coachman, who won her gold in the high jump at the 1948 summer Olympics in London, died at a hospital near her home in Albany, Georgia, according to Albany State University.
“Alice literally set the bar with her accomplishments at the 1948 Games, but Olympic champion is only part of the incredible legacy she leaves behind,” United States Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun said in a statement.
“Alice Coachman Davis has inspired generations of athletes to be their best and she will be missed,” he said.
Coachman, who was born in Albany in 1923, the fifth of 10 children, took an interest in high jump after watching a boys track meet and trained herself in the sport using home-made equipment, according to a biography issued by Albany State.
The university said Coachman was denied access to public training facilities because of segregation but worked herself into competitive shape, in part by running barefoot on dirt roads. After the 1940 and 1944 Games were canceled due to World War II, she was able to compete in the Olympics for the first time in 1948 and won the gold medal by setting a record for the high jump.
She won a total of 34 national titles, was inducted into nine halls of fame and became the first black woman to endorse an international product when Coca-Cola signed her as a spokeswoman in 1954, according to Albany State.
She married Frank Davis and was the mother of two children.
“Although she will sorely be missed, her achievements outside the fields of competition are on par with the great accomplishments within the athletics lines,” the university’s athletic director, Richard Williams, told the Albany Herald.
“We will continue to honor her legacy within the athletic department at Albany State University.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
- RSS
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证:沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证:31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证:0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证:沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证:沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.