American athlete who won three gold medals at the 1960 Rome Olympics, winning the 100m, 200m, and 4 x 100m relay, becoming the first American woman to take home three gold medals in track and field at a single Games.
She wore braces on her legs until she was nine due to complications from infantile paralysis. She played basketball in high school and first competed in the Olympics in 1956.
She was named the AP's Woman Athlete of the Year in 1960 and 1961 and is a member of the US Olympic Hall of Fame. She later worked as a Teacher.
She had four children with Robert Eldridge.
She competed in the 1960 Olympics with Muhammad Ali.
