While Gail Devers achieved fame as the fastest combination female sprinter and hurdler in history, she is per, Moses, Edwin 1955 "Georgia's Top 100 Athletes of the 1900s." At the 1948 Olympics in London, her teammate Audrey Patterson earned a bronze medal in the 200-metre sprint to become the first Black woman to win a medal. ." Back in her hometown, meanwhile, Alice Avenue and Coachman Elementary School were named in her honor. The first post-war Olympics were held in London, England in 1948. The 1948 Olympics were held in London, and when Coachman boarded the ship with teammates to sail to England, she had never been outside of the United States. In all, she gained membership in eight halls of fame, several of which included the Albany Sports Hall of Fame, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, the Black Athletes Hall of Fame, and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. During the four years, she was at the Tuskegee Institute, Alice Coachman competed in the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States and won 23 gold, four silver, and three bronze medals. [1] Added to the list of training barriers was her status as a female athlete during a time of widespread opposition to women in sports. In an ensuing advertising campaign, she was featured on national billboards. One of the keys to her achievements has been an unswerving faith in herself to succeed and the power of God to guide her along the way. At Madison High School, Coachman came under the tutelage of the boys' track coach, Harry E. Lash, who recognized and nurtured her talent. She was the fifth of ten children born to Fred, a plasterer, and Evelyn Coachman. Wilma Rudolph made history in the 1960 Summer Olympic games in Rome, Italy, when she beca, Fanny Blankers-Koen New York Times (January 11, 1946): 24. I just called upon myself and the Lord to let the best come through.. "Alice Coachman, 1st Black Woman Gold Medalist, To Be Honored." Contemporary Black Biography. Despite nursing a back injury, Coachman set a record in the high jump with a mark of 5 feet, 6 1/8 inches, making her the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. That was the climax. How has Title IX impacted women in education and sports over the last 5 decades? Sources. Coachman died on July 14, 2014, at the age of 90 in Georgia. . She also swam to stay in shape. Ultimately, Coachman caught the attention of the athletic department at the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama, which offered the 16-year-old Coachman a scholarship in 1939. Cummings, D. L. "An Inspirational Jump Into History." [4], Coachman went on to graduate with a degree in dressmaking from the Tuskegee Institute in 1946. . "Living Legends." American athlete Alice Coachman (born 1923) became the first African American woman to win an Olympic gold medal when she competed in track and field events in the 1948 Olympic Games. Her victory set the stage for the rise and dominance of black female Olympic champions form the United States: Wilma Rudolph, Wyomia Tyus, Evelyn Ashford, Florence Griffith Joyner and Jackie Joyner-Kersee, wrote William C. Rhoden about Coachman in a 1995 issue of the New York Times. During segregated times, no one wanted to come out and let their peers know they had given me gifts, she told the New York Times. 7. Education: Tuskegee institute; Albany State University, B.A., home economics, 1949. In her hometown of Albany, city officials held an Alice Coachman Day and organized a parade that stretched for 175 miles. She married N.F. She had two children during her first marriage to N. F. Davis, which ended in divorce. Her second husband, Frank Davis, predeceased her. She was also the only U.S. woman to win a track & field gold medal in 1948. 59, 63, 124, 128; January 1996, p. 94. . In 1994, Coachman founded the Alice Coachman Track and Field Foundation in Akron, Ohio; her son Richmond Davis operates the nonprofit organization designed to assist young athletes and help Olympians adjust to life after retirement from competition. Barred from public sports facilities because of her race, Coachman used whatever materials she could piece together to practice jumping. In 1948, Alice Coachman became the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Although Coachman quit track and field when she was at her peak, she amassed 25 national titles to go along with her Olympic gold medal during her active years of competing from 1939 to 1948. This summer marks the 75th anniversary of Coachman's historic win at . Astrological Sign: Scorpio. Coachman received many flowers and gifts from white individuals, but these were given anonymously, because people were afraid of reactions from other whites. Wiki User 2011-09-13 20:39:17 This answer is: Study. Contemporary Black Biography. I won the gold medal. The Tuskegee Institute is one of the earliest Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States and is famous for its connections to Booker T. Washington and the highly decorated Tuskegee Airmen of WWII. 0 Comments. At the time, track and field was a very popular sport outside of the United States, and Coachman was a "star.". Coachman first attracted attention in 1939 by breaking Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) high school and college women's high-jump records while barefoot. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. As an athletic child of the Jim Crow South, who was denied access to regular training facilities, Coachman trained by running on dirt roads and creating her own hurdles to practice jumping. Toshiko Akiyoshi changed the face of jazz music over her sixty-year career. And, of course, I glanced over into the stands where my coach was, and she was clapping her hands.". Danzig, Allison. At the end of the trans-Atlantic journey, she was greeted by many British fans and was surprised to learn that she was a well-known athlete. In 1952, Coachman became the first Black female athlete to endorse an international consumer brand, Coca Cola. Davis (divorced); remarried to Frank Davis; children: Richmond, Diane. She was 90 years old. Audiences were segregated, and Coachman was not even allowed to speak in the event held in her honor. Encyclopedia.com. In 1952, Coachman became the first Black female athlete to endorse an international consumer brand, Coca Cola. The English had pinned their hopes on high jumper D.J. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. In addition, she worked with the Job Corps as a recreation supervisor. She was invited to the White House where President Harry S. Truman congratulated her. [1][6] Despite being in her prime, Coachman was unable to compete in the 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games as they were canceled because of World War II. In the decades since her success in London, Coachman's achievements have not been forgotten. Encyclopedia of World Biography. Encyclopedia.com. We learned to be tough and not to cry for too long, or wed get more. She established numerous records during her peak competitive years through the late 1930s and 1940s, and she remained active in sports as a coach following her retirement from competition. [2] Her unusual jumping style was a combination of straight jumping and western roll techniques. [15], Coachman has received recognition for opening the door for future African-American track stars such as Evelyn Ashford, Florence Griffith Joyner, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Coachman died in Albany, Georgia on July 14, 2014. I was good at three things: running, jumping, and fighting. While admitting that her father was a taskmaster, Coachman also credits him with having instilled in her a tremendous motivation to come out on top in whatever she did. [9], In 1979 Coachman was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. "Alice Coachman." For nearly a decade betw, Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, Alice Lloyd College: Narrative Description, https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/coachman-alice-1923, https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/coachman-alice, http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0771730.html, https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/coachman-alice, Founds Alice Coachman Track and Field Foundation, Wins her first Amateur Athletic Union competition, Wins national high jump championship every year, Named to the women's All-America track and field team for 1945, Becomes first African-American woman selected for an Olympic team, Wins gold medal in the high jump at the Olympics, becoming the first black woman to win Olympic gold, Inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame, Honored as one of the 100 Greatest Olympic Athletes. From 1938 to 1948, she won ten-straight AAU outdoor high jump titles, a record that still exists today. Rhoden, William C. "Sports of the Times; Good Things Happening for the One Who Decided to Wait." Alice Coachman married Frank Davis, and the couple had two children. From the very first gold medal I won in 1939, my mama used to stress being humble, she explained to the New York Times in 1995. Her daily routine included going to school and supplementing the family income by picking cotton, supplying corn to local mills, or picking plums and pecans to sell. They divorced and later Coachman married Frank Davis, who died five years before her. USA Track & Field. Competing barefoot, Coachman broke national high school and collegiate high jump records. At age 16, she enrolled in the high school program at. . From there she went on to Tuskegee Institute college, pursuing a trade degree in dressmaking that she earned in 1946. New York Times (April 27, 1995): B14. Instead, Coachman improvised her training, running barefoot in fields and on dirt roads, using old equipment to improve her high jump. Coachman remained involved in academics and athletics, becoming an elementary and high school physical education teacher and a coach for women's track and basketball teams in several cities in Georgia. "Alice Coachman, New Georgia Encyclopedia, http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?path=/Sports Recreation/IndividualandTeamSports/Track&id;=h-731 (December 28, 2005). Alice died in Albany, Georgia on July 14, 2014, of cardiac arrest after suffering through respiratory problems as a result of a stroke a few months prior. In 1994, Coachman founded the Alice Coachman Track and Field Foundation. Alice Coachman was the first Black woman from any country to win an Olympic gold medal. Alice Coachman, (born November 9, 1923, Albany, Georgia, U.S.died July 14, 2014, Albany), American athlete who was the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Image Credit:By unknown - Original publication: Albany HeraldImmediate source: http://www.albanyherald.com/photos/2012/jan/29/35507/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46868328, Alice CoachmanGold Medal Moments, Team USA, Youtube, Alice Coachman - Gold Medal Moments, Emily Langer, Alice Coachman, first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal, dies at 91, The Washington Post, July 15, 2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/alice-coachman-first-black-woman-to-win-an-olympic-gold-medal-dies-at-91/2014/07/15/f48251d0-0c2e-11e4-b8e5-d0de80767fc2_story.html, By Emma Rothberg, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Predoctoral Fellow in Gender Studies, 2020-2022. The daughter of Fred Coachman and Evelyn (Jackson) Coachman, she was the fifth and middle child in a family of ten children. in Home Economics and a minor in science in 1949. Coachmans athletic development was spurred early on by her fifth grade teacher, Cora Bailey, who encouraged the young athlete to join a track team when she got the chance. Alice Marie Coachman Davis (November 9, 1923 July 14, 2014) was an American athlete. Ebony, November 1991, p. 44; August 1992, p. 82; July 1996, p. 60. Because of World War II (1939-1945), there were no Olympic Games in either 1940 or 1944. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Dominating her event as few other women athletes have in the history of track and field, high jumper Alice Coachman overcame the effects of segregation to become a perennial national champion in the U.S. during the 1940s and then finally an Olympic . difference between yeoman warders and yeoman of the guard; portland custom woodwork. However, her welcome-home ceremony, held at the Albany Municipal Auditorium, only underscored the racial attitudes then existing in the South. In later years Coachman formed the Alice Coachman Foundation to help former Olympic athletes who were having problems in their lives. Ive had that strong will, that oneness of purpose, all my life. [10], Coachman's athletic career ended when she was 24. Posted by on 16.6.2022 with lsn homes for rent mcminnville, tn on 16.6.2022 with lsn homes for rent mcminnville, tn Coachmans formative years as an athlete were hardly by the book. Soon after meeting President Harry Truman and former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, she was honored with parades from Atlanta to Albany and was thrown a party by Count Basie. Despite her enthusiasm, at this point in her life, Coachman could not graduate to the more conventional equipment available at public training facilities, due to existing segregation policies. Alice Coachman achieved her greatest fame in 1948 when she won the Olympic high jump title in an Olympic and American record of 5' 6 1/8", becoming the first Black woman, from any country, to win an Olympic gold medal. Her record lasted until 1960. "Coachman, Alice She settled in Tuskegee, Alabama and married N. F. Davis (they later divorced and Coachman remarried, to Frank Davis). This is a short thirty-minute lesson on Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. Christian Science Monitor, July 18, 1996, p. 12. She also became the first African-American woman to endorse an international product when the Coca-Cola Company featured her prominently on billboards along the nation's highways. when did alice coachman get married. On the way to becoming one of the top female track and field athletes of all time, Coachman had to hurdle several substantial obstacles. A bundle of childhood energy and a display of an inherent athleticism, Coachman accompanied her great-great-grandmother on walks in the rural Georgia landscape, where she liked to skip, run and jump as hard, fast and high as she could. Won in Her Only Olympics. She married and had two children. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone. Before the start of her first school year, the sixteen-year-old Coachman participated in the well-known Tuskegee Relays. Do you find this information helpful? On a rainy afternoon at Wembley Stadium in London in August 1948, Coachman competed for her Olympic gold in the high jump. My drive to be a winner was a matter of survival, I think she remembered in a 1996 issue of Womens Sports & Fitness Papa Coachman was very conservative and ruled with an iron hand. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Until Coachman competed, the U.S. women runners and jumpers had been losing event after event. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Coachman married Frank A. Davis and is the mother of two children. "Olympic Weekly; 343 Days; Georgia's Olympic Legacy." Rhoden, William C. "Sports of the Times; Good Things Happening for the One Who Decided to Wait." And, of course, I glanced over into the stands where my coach was and she was clapping her hands. As a prelude to the international event, in 1995, Coachman, along with other famous female Olympians Anita DeFrantz, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and Aileen Riggin Soule, appeared at an exhibit entitled "The Olympic Woman," which was sponsored by the Avon company to observe 100 years of female Olympic Game achievements. Illness almost forced Coachman to sit out the 1948 Olympics, but sheer determination pulled her through the long boat trip to England. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). While competing for her high school track team in Albany, she caught the attention of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Alice Coachman, (born November 9, 1923, Albany, Georgia, U.S.died July 14, 2014, Albany), American athlete who was the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. She also taught physical education at South Carolina State College, Albany State College, and Tuskegee High School. [5], Prior to arriving at the Tuskegee Preparatory School, Coachman competed in the Amateur Athletic Union's (AAU) Women's National Championships breaking the college and National high jump records while competing barefoot. ." Growing up in the segregated South, she overcame discrimination and unequal access to inspire generations of other black athletes to reach for their athletic goals. Notable Sports Figures. By 1946, the same year she enrolled in Albany State Colege, she was the national champion in the 50- and 100-meter races, 400-meter relay and high jump. Her strong performances soon attracted the attention of recruiters from the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama, a preparatory high school and college for African-American students. Coachman married Frank A. Davis and is the mother of two children. She was particularly intrigued by the high jump competition and, afterward, she tested herself on makeshift high-jump crossbars that she created out of any readily available material including ropes, strings, rags and sticks. Coachman died in Albany, Georgia on July 14, 2014. [4] In her hometown, Alice Avenue, and Coachman Elementary School were named in her honor. Coachman was the only American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics in 1948. Did Alice Coachman get married? Coachmans father subscribed to these ideas and discouraged Coachman from playing sports. 1923, Albany, Georgia, United States of America. Star Tribune (July 29, 1996): 4S. [2], Coachman attended Monroe Street Elementary School where she was encouraged by her year 5 teacher Cora Bailey and by her aunt, Carrie Spry, despite the reservations of her parents. Her parents were poor, and while she was in elementary school, Coachman had to work at picking cotton and other crops to help her family meet expenses. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. degree in Home Economics with a minor in science at Albany State College in 1949 and became teacher and track-and-field instructor. "Miss Coachman Honored: Tuskegee Woman Gains 3 Places on All-America Track Team." If I had gone to the Games and failed, there wouldnt be anyone to follow in my footsteps. In 1994, she founded the Alice Coachman Track and Field Foundation to provide assistance to young athletes and former Olympic competitors. When Coachman set sail for England with the rest of the team, she had no expectations of receiving any special attention across the Atlantic. She also got a 175-mile motorcade from Atlanta to Albany and an Alice Coachman Day in Georgia to celebrate her accomplishment. Womens Sports & Fitness, July-August 1996, p. 114. England's King George VI personally presented Coachman with her gold medal, a gesture which impressed the young athlete more than winning the medal itself. From there she forged a distinguished career as a teacher and promoter of participation in track and field. She told reporters then that her mother had taught her to remain humble because, as she told William C. Rhoden of the New York Times in 1995, "The people you pass on the ladder will be the same people you'll be with when the ladder comes down. Coachman, however, continued to practice in secret. She completed her degree at Albany State College (now University), where she had enrolled in 1947. Amy Essington, Alice Marie Coachman (1923-2014), Blackpast.org, March 8, 2009. Her nearest rival, Britains Dorothy Tyler, matched Coachmans jump, but only on her second try, making Coachman the only American woman to win a gold medal in that years Games. Coachman's athletic ambitions became somewhat more concrete when she received crucial support from two important sources: Cora Bailey, her fifth-grade teacher at Monroe Street Elementary School, and her aunt, Carrie Spry. At the time she was not even considering the Olympics, but quickly jumped at the chance when U.S. Olympic officials invited her to be part of the team. Denied access to public training facilities due to segregation policies, she whipped herself into shape by running barefoot on dirt roads. ." "Back then," she told William C. Rhoden of the New York Times in 1995, "there was the sense that women weren't supposed to be running like that. Alice Coachman made history at the 1948 Olympics in London when she leaped to a record-breaking height of 5 feet, 6 and 1/8 inches in the high jump finals to become the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. During the Olympic competition, still suffering from a bad back, Coachman made history when she became the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Her second husband, Frank Davis, predeceased her, and she is survived by a daughter and a son of her first marriage. ." Within a year she drew the attention of the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! She was 90. She racked up a dozen national indoor and outdoor high jump titles and was named to five All-American teams in the high jump while complete during her college years. She received many flowers and gift certificates for jewelry, which were made anonymously at the time because of paranoia over segregation. She suggested that Coachman join a track team. At Monroe Street Elementary School, she roughhoused, ran and jumped with the boys. Alice Coachman still holds the record for the most victories in the AAU outdoor high jump with . "A Place in History, Not Just a Footnote." (February 23, 2023). I didn't know I'd won. "Alice Coachman," National Women's History Project, http://www.nwhp.org/tlp/biographies/coachman/coachman_bio.html (December 30, 2005). Coachman waved to the crowds who cheered her on every step of the journey. Decker, Ed "Coachman, Alice 1923 Coachman returned home a national celebrity. If I had gone to the Games and failed, there wouldn't be anyone to follow in my footsteps. She went on to win the national championships in the high jump, and 50 and 100 meter races as well. Biography [ edit] Early life and education [ edit] Alice Coachman was born on November 9, 1923, in Albany, Georgia. Encyclopedia.com. She continued to rack up the national honors during the 1940s, first at Tuskegee and then at Albany State College where she resumed her educational and athletic pursuits in 1947. Coachman ended up transferring to Tuskegee in her sophomore year to complete high school. Fanny Blankers-Koen (born 1918) was known as the "first queen of women's Olympics." Tuskegee Institute track star Alice Coachman (1923-2014) became the first black woman athlete of any nation to win an Olympic gold medal and also was among the first American women to win an Olympic medal in track and field. http://www.alicecoachman.com; Jennifer H. Landsbury, Alice Coachman: Quiet Champion of the 1940s, Chap. By that year she had logged up four national track and field championships in the 50-meter dash, 100-meter dash, 400-meter relay, and high jump. In the Albany auditorium, where she was honored, whites and African Americans had to sit separately. Coachman realized that nothing had changed despite her athletic success; she never again competed in track events. She married N. F. Davis, had two children, and strove to become a role model away from the athletic limelight. She also competed in the National AAU track and field events, winning three gold, six silver, and two bronze medals. The people you pass on the ladder will be the same people youll be with when the ladder comes down.. In addition to those honors, in 1975, Coachman was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. Count Basie, the famous jazz musician, threw her a party. Ive always believed that I could do whatever I set my mind to do, she said in Essence in 1984. he was a buisness worker. Her athleticism was evident, but her father would whip her when he caught her practicing basketball or running. New York Times (April 27, 1995): B14. Abrams is now one of the most prominent African American female politicians in the United States. At the Olympic Games she was among 100 former Olympians paid a special honor. It encouraged the rest of the women to work harder and fight harder.". In 1994, she founded the Alice Coachman Track and Field Foundation to provide assistance to young athletes and former Olympic competitors. Coachman's parents were less than pleased with her athletic interests, and her father would even beat her whenever he caught her running or playing at her other favorite athletic endeavor, basketball. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. Who did Alice Coachman marry? One of the great figures in Olympic track and field history, Al Oerter was the first athlete to win gold med, Joyner-Kersee, Jackie 1962 in Home Economics with a minor in science in 1949. In fact, in the years since her display of Olympic prowess, black women have made up a majority of the US women's Olympic track and field team. At The Olympics in London Coachman had been suffering from a back problem. Not only did she compete against herself, other athletes and already established records, Coachman successfully overcame significant societal barriers. Altogether she won 25 AAU indoor and outdoor titles before retiring in 1948. "Good Things Happening for One Who Decided to Wait. She had a stroke a few months prior for which she received treatment from a nursing home. A coach at Tuskegee asked her parents if Coachman could train with their high school team during the summer. She first developed an interest in high jumping after watching the event at a track meet for boys. Right after her ship arrived back home in New York City, renowned bandleader Count Basie held a party for Coachman. The following year, Coachman retired from competition, despite the fact that she was only twenty-six years old. . Deramus, Betty. Barred from training with white children or using white athletic facilities, young Coachman trained on her own. In 1994, she founded the Alice Coachman Track and Field Foundation to provide assistance to young athletes and former Olympic competitors. ". This leap broke the existing16 year old record by inch. High jumper, teacher, coach. Resourceful and ambitious, she improvised her own training regimen and equipment, and she navigated a sure path through organized athletics. That chance came when she entered Madison High School in 1938, where she competed under coach Harry E. Lash. With this medal, Coachman became not only the first black woman to win Olympic gold, but the only American woman to win a gold medal at the 1948 Olympic Games. She received little support for her athletic pursuits from her parents, who thought she should direct herself on a more ladylike. They had two children, Richmond and Evelyn, who both followed their mother's footsteps into athletics. Her medal was presented by King George VI. Coachman was inducted into the, Rhoden, William. The Tuskegee Institute awarded Coachman a scholarship with a place in their high school programme where she was able to compete with against African-Americans throughout the South, which at that time was still segregated. After an intense competition with British jumper Dorothy Tyler, in which both jumpers matched each other as the height of the bar continued going upward, Coachman bested her opponent on the first jump of the finals with an American and Olympic record height of 56 1/8. She competed on and against all-black teams throughout the segregated South. Alice CoachmanGold Medal Moments, Team USA, Youtube, Emily Langer, Alice Coachman, first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal, dies at 91,, Elinor Lin Ostrom, Nobel Prize Economist, Lessons in Leadership: The Honorable Yvonne B. Miller, Chronicles of American Women: Your History Makers, Women Writing History: A Coronavirus Journaling Project, We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist DC, Learning Resources on Women's Political Participation, https://olympics.com/en/news/alice-coachman-athletics, https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/coachman-alice-marie-1923/, https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/07/19/332665921/why-an-african-american-sports-pioneer-remains-obscure, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/15/sports/alice-coachman-90-dies-groundbreaking-medalist.html?_r=0, www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/alice-coachman, https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/alice-coachman-first-black-woman-to-win-an-olympic-gold-medal-dies-at-91/2014/07/15/f48251d0-0c2e-11e4-b8e5-d0de80767fc2_story.html. Spry defended Coachman's interest in sports and, more importantly, Bailey encouraged Coachman to continue developing her athletic abilities. But when she attended a celebration at the Albany Municipal Auditorium, she entered a stage divided by racewhites on one side, blacks on the other. She was the fifth of Fred and Evelyn Coachman's ten children. Between 1939 and 1948 Coachman won the U.S. national high jump championship every year. At age 25, she launched herself into the record books in front of 83,000 spectators, becoming the first woman of African descent to win an Olympic gold medal.