An Extraordinary Athlete: Wilma Rudolph: Inspiration for FIFA World Cup Soccer

by | Jun 30, 2014 | Children, Extraordinary Women, Families, Giveback, Marketing, Moms, Parenting, Sports

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An Extraordinary Athlete: Wilma Rudolph: Inspiration for The World Soccer Cup. You know how our family loves sports so we are really enjoying watching the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. What a feat for humanity~the first major soccer event where viewers worldwide are able to tune in via their smartphones. Smartphone technology has really revolutionized the world for the better by allowing everyone access to events, news and information. And everyone loves “futbol.”

We jumped on the chance to  discuss lessons of good sportsmanship with our children given some of the incidents in the soccer games (the biting and the flopping drama-come on!). Our daughter who plays soccer has been learning so much from these discussions. So we were truly impressed when she chose to study an important female athlete role model~Wilma Rudolph for her final book report. Our daughter wrote a lovely essay about Wilma, a fellow Tennessean who was lightning fast.  An extraordinary athlete, Wilma’s is an incredible story of overcoming great odds while always demonstrating athletic prowess, grace and good sportsmanship. Here is our daughter’s report:

Wilma Rudolph was a very interesting champion runner. Wilma was born in 1940 on June 23, in St. Bethlehem, Tennessee. In 1944, Wilma got sick with polio. Wilma watched other children run and play. Wilma knew someday she would run and do something important.

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An Extraordinary Athlete: Wilma Rudolph

In 1947 Wilma got a leg brace to help her walk. When Wilma was ten, 1950, she started to walk without the leg brace. Wilma joined her high school track team. Wilma even got a spot on the Olympic Track team! In 1960 Wilma went for the first time to the Olympics. She won a third place medal in track. The second time Wilma went to the Olympic Games she won three Olympic gold medals for the U.S.A.!

In 1962 Wilma retired from track. Wilma set up a foundation to help amateur athletes in 1981. Wilma died in Nashville, Tennessee in 1995. Wilma Rudolph inspires me that if you’re hurt or sick, it makes things hard, but not impossible.

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Wilma’s timeline

Lessons from the mouths of babes~ we enjoy studying athletes who overcame major life challenges, were always thankful for their achievements and then gave back to their community.  We hope that the FIFA World Soccer Cup players will learn some lessons in good sportsmanship from real super stars like Wilma. What an Extraordinary Athlete: Wilma Rudolph is a true inspiration for World Cup Soccer players!

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