Alice Coachman

So now tonight I'm going to talk about Alice Coachman.

Okay, history.

So she was born in Albany, Georgia, and she was the fifth of 10 children.

Now she grew up in the segregated South, you know, where she faced severe racial gender and gender barriers, you know, that barred her from playing any organized sports.

So, you know, but undeterred, she trained by running barefoot along dirt roads and utilizing homemade equipment to practice her jumping form.

Wow.

So now encouraged by our teachers and her family, she joined the track team at Madison High School in 1938.

And she was so good that she drew the attention of the Tuskegee Institute.

Wow.

So in 39, she joined the Tuskegee Prep School at the age of 16 on a scholarship.

Wow.

Now, before she started college, she competed barefoot in AAU National Championships.

Really?

Yeah.

And she broke college records, college and national high jump records.

Wow.

Barefoot.

Yeah.

So she completely dominated the AAU Outdoor High Jump Championships.

And she won 10 national titles in a row from 39 to 48.

Oh, she was dominant.

I'm telling you.

She was dominant.

Now, she also secured national championships in the 50 and 100-meter dash, as well as the 400-meter relay.

Wow.