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Alice Coachman (Davis) was the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal and the only American woman to win a gold medal in the 1948 Olympics in London. She was born November 9, 1923 in Albany, Georgia to Fred and Evelyn Jackson Coachman. When she was young, blacks could not participate in organized athletic activities in Southern schools and YMCAs. Therefore, Alice trained for sprint events in fields and dirt roads and jumped barefoot at a neighborhood playground. In 1939, at the age of 16, she received at scholarship to attend Tuskegee Preparatory School. Before classes began, she competed in the women's track and field national championship. She broke the high school and collegiate high jump records without wearing shoes. Also at Tuskegee, she ran on the national champion 4x100-meter relay team in 1941 and 1942. In 1943, she won the AAU nationals in the running high jump and the fifty-yard dash. In 1946, she received a trade degree from Tuskegee Institute and enrolled in Albany State College.
Although many athletic competitions were restricted by World War II, Coachman won 25 national titles, mainly for the high jump. She won consecutive titles in the AAU competitions and was the national high jump champion for ten years, from 1939 to 1948. She won the outdoor 50-meter dash from 1943 through 1947, the indoor 50-meter dash in 1945 and 1948, and the outdoor 100-meter in 1942, 1945 and 1946. The 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games were cancelled due to World War II. In 1948, the XIV Olympiad was held in London, England. Coachman qualified for the 1948 Olympic team with a 5 feet, 4 inch jump, which broke the record of 5 feet, 3-1/4 inches set in 1932. At the Olympic Games, Coachman had a back problem. However, she jumped 5 feet, 6-1/4 inches on her first try, a record-breaking jump for which she earned the gold medal. Alice Coachman not only became the first African-American woman to win a gold medal, but also the first American woman to win a gold medal in track and field. In addition, she was the only American woman to win a gold medal at the 1948 games. Coachman's record was not broken until two Olympiads later.
When Coachman returned to the U.S., she was treated like royalty. In addition to meeting many famous people who also gave parties for her, she was given a parade in her honor, given a victory ride from Atlanta to Macon, and given a banquet by her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta.
Coachman retired from competing in sports after winning the gold medal. In 1949, she received a B.A. degree in home economics from Albany State College and began teaching high school physical education in Albany, Georgia. She also taught at South Carolina State College, Albany State College, and Tuskegee High School. She created the Alice Coachman Track and Field Foundation to help other athletes and former Olympians adjust to life after the games. In 1975, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. She was also inducted into the Black Athletes Hall of Fame, Bob Douglas Hall of Fame, Helm's Hall of Fame, the Georgia State Hall of Fame and the Tuskegee Hall of Fame.
Alice Coachman possessed an uncanny internal drive and conviction. She heralded a message to people in all walks of life--if you believe and work hard to achieve, victory is yours to receive.
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