My favorite Olympian, the legendary Wilma Rudolph herself- she was the first American woman to win 3 gold medals in track & field in a single Olympic Games. Her story was one of my favorites growing up, as she overcame polio and a leg brace to eventually be called “the fastest woman in the world”; this is after being told as a child that she’d never walk after her leg was twisted from polio. When she was 12, she finally got to ditch the brace and start demonstrating her natural prowess for athletics; she played basketball in high school and was soon recruited by Tennessee State’s track coach Ed Temple. She went on to win a bronze medal at age 16 in track at the 1956 Summer Olympics and her 3 gold medals four years later in 1960.