On this day in 1948, high jumper Alice Coachman (1923–2014) made history at the Olympic Games in London when she became the first Black woman from any country to win an Olympic gold medal. She was also the only American woman to win gold in ’48. Coachman grew up poor in the segregated South, training wherever and whenever she could. Her journey took a turn when she received an athletic scholarship from Tuskegee Institute in 1939. Coachman later became the first African American woman to endorse an international product after Coca-Cola signed her as a spokesperson in 1952. ‘I’ve always believed that I could do whatever I set my mind to.’
(📸 Bettmann/Contributor, Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for USOC)
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