By Kath!ccn Kvu!!

WhaL Lype of ls Lhls sLory?

O Ii is a biogiaply.
O A biogiaply iells aboui a peison's life and ii is wiiiien
by anoilei peison. As you iead ii lool foi ilis
infoimaiion:
O Infoimaiion ielling wly ile peison is impoiiani
O Evenis iold in clionological oidei sucl as:
O Fiisi, nexi, ilen, and finally
Iocabulary Words
O iniense
O fumble
O luxuiy
O asionislmeni
O piopel
O iiiumplani
O lunged
O iemedies
Iocabulary Words
O iniense-Someiling iniense exisis in gieai siiengil oi degiee.
O fumble-A fumble is a misiale oi eiioi, sucl as diopping ile ball in a
fooiball game.
O luxuiy-A luxuiy is a pleasuie oi an iiem ilai is noi necessaiy an is noi
ofien expeiience because ii is ioo cosily.
O asionislmeni-Wlen you feel asionislmeni, you aie gieaily suipiised oi
aie expeiiencing a sense of wondei.
O piopel-Wlen you piopel a body oi objeci, you cause ii io move in a
ceiiain diieciion.
O iiiumplani-You feel iiiumplani wlen you aie lappy because you lave
aclieved a goal oi a vicioiy.
O lunged-If you lunged ai someiling, you moved suddenly iowaid ii.
O iemedies-Remedies aie used io cuie illnesses, siop pain, oi fix
pioblems.
O Wlo? Wilma Rudolpl
O Wlai? Hei lefi leg was paialyzed.
O Wleie? Clailsville, Tennessee
O Wlen? Wlen sle was five (i)
O Wly? Sle goi polio.
WhaL do you Lhlnk Lhls sLory ls
golng Lo be abouL?
O Wlai aie youi ideas?
O Wly?
No one expected such a tiny girl to have a first birthday. In Clarksville,
Tennessee, in 1940, life for a baby who weighed just over four pounds at
birth was sure to be limited.
But most babies didnt have nineteen older brothers and sisters to watch
over them. Most babies didnt have a mother who knew home remedies and
a father who worked several jobs.
Most babies werent Wilma Rudolph.
Wilma did celebrate her first birthday, and everyone noticed that as soon as
this girl could walk, she ran or jumped instead.
She worried people, though-she was always so small and sickly. If a
brother or sister had a cold, she got double pneumonia. If one of them had
measles, Wilma got measles, too, plus mumps and chicken pox.
Her mother always nursed her at home. Doctors were a luxury for the
Rudolph family, and anyway, only one doctor in Clarksville would treat black
people.
i. Wly does ile auiloi include ile daie?
O So ile iead lnows wlen ile sioiy iool place.
:. Wlai do you leain aboui Wilma's peisonaliiy fiom ile
way sle ieacied io lei paialyzed leg?
O Answeis:
O i. So ile ieadei would be awaie wlen ile sioiy iool
place.
:. Sle was deieimined and peisisieni.
ust before Wilma turned five, she got sicker than ever. Her sisters
and brothers heaped all the familys blankets on her, trying to keep
her warm.
During that sickness, Wilmas left leg twisted inward, and she
couldnt move it back. Not even Wilmas mother knew what was
wrong.
The doctor came to see her then. Besides scarlet fever, he said,
Wilma had also been stricken with polio. In those days, most
children who got polio either died or were permanently crippled.
There was no cure.
The news spread around Clarksville. Wilma, that lively girl, would
never walk again.
But Wilma kept moving any way she could. By hopping on one
foot, she could get herself around the house, to the outhouse in the
backyard, and even, on Sundays, to church.

Wilmas mother urged her on. Mrs. Rudolph had plenty to

do-cooking, cleaning, sewing patterned flour sacks into
clothes for her children, now twenty-two in all. Yet twice every
week, she and Wilma took the bus to the nearest hospital that
would treat black patients, some fifty miles away in Nashville.
They rode together in the back, the only place blacks were
allowed to sit.
Doctors and nurses at the hospital helped Wilma do exercises
to make her paralyzed leg stronger. At home, Wilma practiced
them constantly, even when it hurt.
To Wilma, what hurt most was that the local school wouldnt
let her attend because she couldnt walk. Tearful and lonely,
she watched her brothers and sisters run off to school each
day, leaving her behind. Finally, tired of crying all the time,
she decided she had to fight back-somehow.
Wilma worked so hard at her exercises that the doctors
decided she was ready for a heavy steel brace. With the brace
supporting her leg, she didnt have to hop anymore. School
was possible at last.
O uesiions:
O i. Wlai was mosi suipiising aboui Wilma Rudolpl?
O :. Afiei lei biiil, wlai do you ilinl was ile fiisi
ciiiical eveni in Wilma Rudolpl's life? Wlen did ii
lappen?
. Wly was ii impoiiani?
. Wly migli ii lave been suipiising io ile ieadei ilai
Wilma Rudolpl was unable io wall wlen sle was five
yeais old?
. Wly is ii impoiiani io iemembei ilai Wilma lad
been so ill wlen sle was five?
O Answeis:
O i. Sle weigled jusi ovei foui pounds ai biiil. Sle lad
nineieen oilei siblings.
O :.Sle goi polio wlen sle was five.
O . Sle wasn'i able io wall.
O . Ii suipiises a ieadei because ile iiile says sle
became ile woild's fasiesi woman.
O . Ii was a majoi obsiacle ilai sle lad io oveicome io
become ile woild's fasiesi woman.
But it wasnt the happy place she had imagined. Her classmates
made fun of her brace. During playground games she could only sit
on the sidelines, twitchy with impatience. She studied the other kids
for hours-memorizing moves, watching the ball zoom through the
rim of the bushel basket they used as a hoop.
Wilma fought the sadness by doing more leg exercises. Her family
always cheered her on, and Wilma did everything she could to keep
them from worrying about her. At times her leg really did seem to be
getting stronger. Other times it just hurt.
One Sunday, on her way to church, Wilma felt especially good. She
and her family had always found strength in their faith, and church
was Wilmas favorite place in the world. Everyone she knew would be
there-talking and laughing, praying and singing. It would be just the
place to try the bravest thing she had ever done.
She hung back while people filled the old building. Standing alone,
the sound of hymns coloring the air, she unbuckled her heavy brace
and set it by the churchs front door. Taking a deep breath, she
moved one foot in front of the other, her knees trembling violently.
She took her mind off her knees by concentrating on taking another
breath, and then another.

O Whispers rippled throughout the gathering.

Wilma Rudolph was ,3. Row by row,
heads turned toward her as she walked alone
down the aisle. Her large family, all her
familys friends, everyone from school-each
person stared wide-eyed. The singing never
stopped; it seemed to burst right through the
walls and into the trees. Finally, Wilma
reached a seat in the front and began singing
too, her smile 9riumphan9
O uesiions:
O i. Wlai does ile auiloi mean by ile pliase, "ile
sound of lymns coloiing ile aii?"
O :. How do you ilinl ile people in cluicl feli wlen
iley saw Wilma Rudolpl walling down ile aisle? Wlai
clues does ile auiloi include?
O . Aboui low many yeais did ii iale foi Wilma io wall
again wiiloui ile biace? How do you lnow?
O . Wly do you ilinl Wilma and lei moilei mailed
bacl ile leg biace io ile lospiial?
O Answeis:
O i. Tle sound of lymns (songs in cluicl) made
eveiyiling seem beauiiful and vibiani.
O :. Tle people weie suipiised and lappy. ( Tley siaied
"wide-eyed" and ile singing "seemed io buisi iigli
iliougl ile walls and inio ile iiees.)
O . Ii iool lei seven yeais. Sle began weaiing ile biace
wlen sle was five and ioo off ile biace foi good wlen
sle was iwelve.
O . Ii iepiesenied Wilma's abiliiy io oveicome lei
disabiliiy and pioved io ile dociois ilai sle could now
wall wiiloui ii.
Wilma practiced walking as often as she could after that, and
when she was twelve years old, she was able to take off the
brace for good. She and her mother realized she could get
along without it, so one memorable day they wrapped the
hated brace in a box and mailed it back to the hospital.
As soon as Wilma sent that box away, she knew her life was
beginning all over again.
After years of sitting on the sidelines, Wilma couldnt wait to
throw herself into basketball, the game she had most liked to
watch. She was skinny but no longer tiny. Her long, long legs
would propel her across the court and through the air, and
she knew all the rules and all the moves.
In high school, she led her basketball team to one victory
after another. Eventually, she took the team all the way to the
Tennessee state championships. There, to everyones
as9onishmen9, her team lost.

O Sequence Claii:
O Fiisi
Fiisi, wlen Wilma was five, sle goi polio and couldn'i
wall.
O Tlen
O Tlen, wlen sle was iwelve, sle was able io siop using
lei biace foi good.
O uesiions befoie you iead.
O i. Wly was jusi paiiicipaiing in ile Olympics a
peisonal vicioiy foi Wilma?
O Ii was a gieai feai io oveicome all ile obsiacles sle lad
faced as a young clild.
O :. Do you ilinl Wilma's injuiy will leep lei fiom
iunning in ile iace ai Olympics? Wly oi wly noi?
O Ii won'i leep lei fiom iunning because sle las woiled
ioo laid io give in io ile pain. Sle slowed ile same
lind of deieiminaiion wlen sle was a clild and lad
exeicised lei leg even wlile feeling a loi of pain.
Wilma had become accustomed to winning. Now she
slumped on the bench, all the liveliness knocked out of her.
But at the game that day was a college coach. He admired
Wilmas basketball playing but was especially impressed by
the way she ran. He wanted her for his track-and-field team.
With his help, Wilma won a full athletic scholarship to
Tennessee State University. She was the first member of her
family to go to college.
Eight years after she mailed her brace away, Wilmas long
legs and years of hard work carried her thousands of miles
from Clarksville, Tennessee. The summer of 1960 she arrived
in Rome, Italy, to represent the United States at the Olympic
Games-as a runner.

ust participating in the Olympics was a deeply

personal victory for Wilma, but her chances of
winning a race were limited. Simply walking in
Romes shimmering heat was a chore, and athletes
from other countries had run faster races than
Wilma ever had. Women werent thought to run very
well anyway; track-and-field was considered a sport
for men. And the pressure from the public
was in9ense-for the first time ever, the Olympics
would be shown on television, and all the athletes
knew that more than one hundred million people
would be watching. Worst of all, Wilma had twisted
her ankle just after she arrived in Rome. It was still
swollen and painful on the day of her first race.
Yei once ii was lei iuin io compeie, Wilma foigoi lei
anlle and eveiyiling else. Sle !ungcd foiwaid, noi
ilinling aboui lei feai, lei pain, oi ile sweai flying off
lei face. Sle ian beiiei ilan sle evei lad befoie. And sle
ian beiiei ilan anyone else.
Giabbing ile aiieniion of ile wlole woild, Wilma
Rudolpl of ile Uniied Siaies won ile ioo-meiei dasl. No
one else even came close. An Olympic gold medal was
leis io iale lome.
So wlen ii was iime foi ile :oo-meiei dasl, Wilma's
giaceful long legs weie alieady famous.
O Hei eais buzzed wiil ile sound of ile ciowd claniing lei name. Sucl suppoii
lelped lei ignoie ile iain ilai was beginning io fall. Ai ile ciacl of ile
siaiiing gun, sle suiged inio ile lumid aii lile a ioinado. Wlen sle ciossed
ile finisl line, sle lad done ii again. Sle finisled fai alead of eveiyone else.
Sle lad eained lei second gold medal. Wei and bieailless, Wilma was
exlilaiaied by ile double iiiumpl. Tle ciowd weni wild.
O Tle oo-meiei ielay iace was yei io come. Wilma's ieam faced ile iouglesi
compeiiiion of all. And as ile fouiil and final iunnei on lei ieam, ii was
Wilma wlo lad io cioss ile finisl line.
O
O Wilma's ieammaies ian well, passed ile baion smooilly, and lepi ile ieam in
fiisi place. Wilma ieadied leiself foi ile dasl io ile finisl line as lei iliid
ieammaie ian iowaid lei. Sle ieacled bacl foi ile baionand neaily diopped
ii. As sle iiied io iecovei fiom ile Xumb!c, iwo oilei iunneis sped pasi lei.
Wilma and lei ieam weie suddenly in iliid place.
O ###
O Evei since ile day sle lad walled down ile aisle ai
cluicl, Wilma lad lnown ile powei of
conceniiaiion. Now, legs pumping, sle pui lei mind
io woil. In a final, eleciiifying buisi of speed, sle
pulled alead. By a fiaciion of a second, sle was ile
fiisi io blasi acioss ile finisl line. Tle ilundeiing
cleeis maicled ile ilundeiing of lei own leaii. Sle
lad made lisioiy. Sle lad won foi an asiounding
iliid iime.
O Ai lei iliid ceiemony ilai weel, as ile band played
"Tle Siai-Spangled Bannei," Wilma siood iall and siill,
lile a queen, ile lasi of lei iliee Olympic gold medals
langing aiound lei necl.
O !ma Rudo!ph, once lnown as ile siclliesi clild in
Clailsville, lad become thc Xastcst woman n thc
wov!d.