Fri 1 Jun 2012 14.26 BST First published on Fri 1 Jun 2012 14.26 BST
Wilma Rudolph, known fondly as The Black Gazelle, entered the summer Olympics of 1960 with high hopes of glory having won a bronze medal as part of the American 4x100m relay team four years prior. Her success as a track athlete was all the more remarkable given that she had worn a leg brace as a youth after contracting polio
She beat Britain's Dorothy Hyman, No188, who finished in second place, and then set a new Olympic record in the 200m sprint with a time of 23.2 seconds
History was then made in the 4x100m relay as she crossed the line first in a world record time of 44.5 seconds to win another gold medal – her third of the Games – with team-mates Martha Hudson, Lucinda Williams and Barbara Jones
Rudolph was the first American woman to achieve such a feat and won global fame as the fastest woman in the world. Just two years later, she retired, her legacy having been written. She died in 1994 at the age of 54
