Hall of Fame

Alice Coachman was an American former track and field athlete who specialized in high jump, and she was the first African American woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Born in Albany, Georgia, Coachman was raised in the heart of the segregated South, and she was often barred from competing in organized sporting events. She improvised her training throughout her childhood, running barefoot on dirt roads and using old equipment to practice her high jump. While competing in track and field events in high school, Coachman was offered a scholarship to the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. She had already broken the college and national high jump records barefooted, and proceeded to win 10 straight national high jump championships. Coachman also won national championships in the 50-meter dash, 100 and 4x100 relay. Due to the canceled Olympic Games of 1940 and 1944, Coachman’s first international competition came during the Olympic Games London 1948. She would win gold in the high jump at the 1948 Games, becoming the first African American woman to win an Olympic gold medal. She retired from athletic competition after the 1948 Games at the age of 24 to raise a family and become a school teacher. Coachman was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, and an elementary school in Albany bears her name. She passed away in July 2014 at the age of 90.