OLYMPICS SPECIAL VOL. 1 BETTY ROBINSON AND WYOMIA TYUS: The 100M Special

Ah! The Olympics, the apex of athletics, the gold standard of the gold standard of the gold standard. Every 4 years the very best in the wide, wild, wicked world of sports compete for the gold medal, some of those athletes live on forever like Carl Lewis, Flo Jo, Wilma Rudolf, Jim Thorpe, Mary Lou Retton, the list goes on but there are several others that get lost in the storied and complicated history halls of the Olympics. This edition of TSI will focus on the Women’s 100M Sprint and 4 X 100M Relay. The forgotten stars featured in the first Olympic special are Betty Robinson and Wyomia Tyus.

BETTY ROBINSON: 1928 – Amsterdam, 1936 – Berlin

Betty’s career in track and field was brief but explosive. August 23, 1911 Elizabeth Robinson was born to Harry and Elizabeth Robinson. The Robinsons resided in Riverdale, Illinois. Elizabeth, or Betty as she preferred, wasn’t immediately interested in sports. Betty attended school in Wayne, Illinois. She was accidently discovered by her high school biology teacher, Charles Price. Mr. Price was also the assistant track coach. Betty missed a train home. She sprinted with all she had to catch it (according to legend she actually made it). Price knew there was a track star in her. She ran the 100M and 4 x 100M Relay. According to her, “I had no idea that women even ran that. I grew up a hick.” She was 15 at the time.

Her first official race was at Soldier Field in Chicago. She came in second place…to the current women’s 100M record-holder, Helen Filkey. This was followed by the Olympic qualifying meet for the 1928 games. Any previous Olympics qualifier, she wouldn’t have been invited. This was the first time in Olympic history where women were allowed to participate in track and field against the wishes of Pope Pious XI and Baron de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics. Betty came in second and made the cut. By now, she had set a school record for the 100M and turned 16.

Betty was the only American to make it through the trial races and semifinal rounds of the 100M. Canada’s Fanny Rosenfeld was heavily favored to win the gold. Canada’s other sprinter, Myrtle Cook (also so-holder of the current world record time of 12.3 seconds) and Germany’s Helen Schmidt made false starts in the final race. They were disqualified, leaving only 4 runners. Betty narrowly won the gold with the world record time of 12.2 seconds. Second place’s Rosenfeld time was 12.3 seconds. Betty was 16 and the first women to win a gold medal in the Olympic Games. In the 4 x 100M Relay, the American Women team won silver to the Canadian team’s gold. Betty is still the youngest woman to win the gold in this event.

She received a diamond watch from Wayne, Illinois, a silver cup from her high school, and a golden globe necklace from Douglas MacArthur, the president of the Olympic committee. In September of that year she lowered the 100M record to 11.0 seconds. She continued to train and compete. A year later, she started attending Northwestern University where she set more world records for 60 yards, 70 yards, and 200 yards. Betty was an excellent shooter on the rifle team.

In 1931 however things took a downturn, while flying in a biplane with her cousin piloting. They ended up crashing. Her cousin was still alive. She was discovered and declared dead at the scene but the undertaker clarified that she was alive. Betty was in a coma for a time but woke up. She needed several years of recovery. The crash left her with severe cuts, a broken left leg, crushed left arm, and a concussion. Her leg needed a silver rod and pins to keep it intact. She was inactive in sports until 1934.

She resumed training but couldn’t bend her left leg into a starting position anymore, only a standing one. The 100M was out of the question but the 4 x 100M wasn’t. She was on the 1936 4 x 100M team with Harriet Bland, Annette Rogers, and Helen Stephens. Betty was third leg. They managed to win the gold medal even though Betty’s past few years. The German team had the lead until a baton mishap threw them off. No one thought this would have happened. A mere 5 years ago, Betty was dead and she won the gold medal again.

Shortly afterwards, she retired from athletics. Betty never received any endorsement deals and couldn’t play any professional sports. She ended up finding a living elsewhere. She married Richard Schwartz in December 1939. The couple had 2 children and 3 grandchildren. Betty was inducted in the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1977, among others. She represented the Girls’ Athletic Association and Women’s Olympic Athletic Association throughout her life speaking to numerous communities and schools.

She died on May 21, 1999 from Alzheimer’s.

WYOMIA TYUS: 1964 – Tokyo, 1968 – Mexico City

Unlike Betty, Wyomia was a natural athlete from an early age. She was born in Griffin, Georgia on August 29, 1945. Her parents, Willie Tyus, worked on a dairy farm, and, Marie Tyus, was a laundry lady. They had very different ideas on whether or not their only daughter should play sports. Marie deemed it inappropriate for a lady but her father was the opposite. As the youngest of 4, she followed her brothers into sports. They attended segregated schools throughout their early years. There wasn’t much encouragement in her becoming an athlete but she kept at it.

In high school, she found basketball. After a while, she tried out for track and field. Wyomia wanted to be a high jumper but found her real specialty was the 4 x 100M and the 100M. Legendary track coach, Edward Temple, from Tennessee State University saw Wyomia at the Georgia State Championship. She was 15 but he knew she needed to be on his team. Temple invited her to his track and field camp that summer. In 1962, she went to the Amateur Athletic Union championship, won the 100M and set a new American record. The next year’s championship, Wyomia came in second to Edith McGuire.

Wyomia received a scholarship to TSU in 1963. Making her the first person in her family to attend college. She won several AAU titles while there. Narrowly, she made the team for the 1964 Olympic games. For the 100M, Wyomia won the gold. For the 4 x 100M, the American team won the silver. Despite the international success, her mother still didn’t like her only daughter playing sports. This was also the first time Wyomia beat Edith McGuire in the 100M. Regardless of what her mother wanted, she went to the 1968 Olympics. There was talk of a boycott from the African American athletes due to racism and threats but she along with a few others including Tommie Smith and John Carlos went. For the second time, she won the gold in 100M. This was the first time a person won the 100M in two consecutive Olympics. The next person to do this was Carl Lewis, 20 years later. Also the American team won the gold for 4 x 100M. Wyomia did not make the Black Power salute when she won her medals but she did dedicate them to John Carlos and Tommie Smith, who did.

Just like Betty, Wyomia retired after her second Olympics. She had no endorsements and had to find work elsewhere. She served as a goodwill ambassador to Africa working with training clinics and encouraging girls to participate in sports. She was invited to the Professional International Track Association in 1973. After two years as a pro she won 22 out of 36 races. Following this, she became a physical education teacher in the Los Angeles area. After getting married a second time, had 2 children. Billie Jean King, Wyomia, and several other female athletes formed the Women’s Sports Foundation in the mid-70s.

She still resides in the LA area now.

Both of these women deserve to be remembered more than they currently are. Both of them broke boundaries and made history. Betty came back from the dead. Wyomia went from a small farm in Georgia to the world’s fastest woman in her prime. They are some of the greatest athletes to grace the Olympic track and the world.

Sources

http://www.olympic.org/news/betty-robinson-athletics/179776

http://www.anb.org/articles/19/19-00969.html

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/21/sports/betty-robinson-a-pathfinder-in-women-s-track-dies-at-87.html

http://www.teamusa.org/News/2015/April/28/Betty-Robinson-The-Gold-Medalist-Who-Came-Back-From-the-Dead

http://www.usatf.org/halloffame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=137

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/sports-outdoor-recreation/wyomia-tyus-b-1945

http://www.usatf.org/halloffame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=175

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/trackandfield/p/wyomia_tyus.htm

http://www.olympic.org/wyomia-tyus

http://sports.jrank.org/pages/4987/Tyus-Wyomia.html

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121259662999045367

Cleopatra the Alchemist, 3^rd Century CE

Some of you reading this may be thinking, “What does alchemy have to do with science?” Even though it was ultimately fruitless in turning everything into gold, it did lead to the establishment of chemistry.

Not much is known about her. Apparently this was a pseudonym but there are no records left of what her actual name was. She might have been a colleague or follower of Miriam the Prophetess. No record left says one or the other but it is known that they knew of each other. This is not the same person as Cleopatra the Physician.

Her most famous work is the papyrus paper known as the Chrysopeoeia of Cleopatra. It included the detailed descriptions of furnaces. Also this features the earliest appearance of the Ouroboros. Some theorize that she invited the Alembic, a tool used in distilling chemicals. This is still used today. She is famously mentioned in very high regard in the encyclopedia, Kitab al-Fihrist, by Muslim scholar Ibn al-Nadim.

Miriam the Prophetess, 3^rd Century CE

She has gone a few different names including Maria the Jewess, Mary the Jewess, Mariya the Sage, Maria Hebraea, and Maria Prophetissima. The majority of what we know about her comes the Egyptian alchemist, Zosimos, a contemporary of her. She was aware of Cleopatra the Alchemist but their exact relationship if at all is not known.

Mary is most famous for the allegedly inventing the tribikos, the first piece of distilling equipment. Aside from this next to nothing to known about her unfortunately however she is also accredited with creating the double boiler.

Aglaonike, 3^rd BCE

Much like other notable scientists of her time there is not a great deal of information is still around. Aglaonike resided in Thessaly and a prominent astronomer. She successfully understood and predicted the moon cycles and lunar eclipses. Something you’ll frequently find about her is that people thought she was a sorceress and witch. Even Plato and Socrates refer to her in their writings as a witch. This could have been done to discredit her which is most likely. She was not a witch. She was just ahead of her time.

Agnodice, 4^th Century BCE

She was the first female doctor in recorded history. In 350 BCE, Agnodice dressed as a man to learn midwifery and did. She was one of the best and a beloved gynecologist, to the point that male doctors were suspicious. Agnodice practiced dressed as a man. They sued her for corrupting the women of Athens. There were even accusations of rape. They forced her to reveal her true gender. (Dramatic Music) A Woman Is A Doctor! Initially things looked grim but a large gathering of women showed up for support of Agnodice. The judge ruled that she could still practice. A year later, the law was changed and women could become doctors. There are no primary sources about her and some think this is just a tall tale to inspire women and show that women can be doctors. Regardless she is still an empowering historical figure.

Sophia Brahe, 1556 – 1643 CE

Most people know who Tycho Brahe was. Most people know Johannes Kepler as Tycho’s assistant that helped him become the legend is now. What most people don’t know is that Tycho’s little sister, Sophia, also helped him and was an equally great scientist in her own right.

She came from a noble Danish family and like Tycho went against their parents’ wishes and studied science instead of following in the family’s footsteps. She learned in secret from Tycho. He called her his Urania, goddess of the stars, to her Apollo, god of the sun. She married a rich noble man and taught herself astronomy and Latin. They had one son, Tage Thott. Her husband died and left the estate to her. She successfully ran it until Tage was an adult. This whole time she was actively studying alchemy, astronomy, astrology, and chemistry. At this point however pseudo-science and actual science were viewed in the same light. So astrology was seen as a real science. Her brother, Tycho, was hired around this time to do astronomic and astrologic predictions for royalty and he had Sophia’s help in this.

She helped Tycho discover the, Nova Stella, supernova when she was only 16. She became a regular assistant to Tycho while he was under the tutelage of nobles. A year after her brother died she married a second time. They were very poor and forced to move around because of debt. He died in 1613. From here a relative, probably her son financially supported her until she died. She spent the remaining writing genealogy for royalty. Her accomplishments unfortunately went overlooked for years.

Rurik, 830-879, founder of the House of Rurik and basis for the name Roderick

The specific details surrounding his life are vague. What is known however; is that he was a Varangian prince from the Rus clan. The Varangians were a tribe of Vikings that many years before migrated to the northern coast of the Black Sea. During a turbulent time in Kiev where several clans were feuding, they invited the Rurik led Varangians to stabilize the situation. Rurik did the thing everyone does in that scenario. He took over Kiev and established a dynasty that lasted nearly 700 years. Most famous of his lineage is Ivan IV aka Ivan the Terrible.

Elizabeth I, 1533-1603, English queen, the last Tudor

She did too much to mention here. She was amazing.

Antonio Vivaldi, 1678-1741, Italian composer

Antonio was sickly as a child and had ‘tightness of the chest,’ which is believed now to be asthma. He learned violin from his father and early on they knew he was an amazing musician. He was known as Il Prete Rosso aka the Red Priest however he was absolved from religious duties due to poor health. He worked as a freelance musician, teacher, and composer throughout his life. Later in life however his career dwindled. He died poor and forgotten.

Svetlana Stalin, 1928-2011, Josef Stalin’s daughter

She famously defected to the United States in1967 and became a successful writer with the book, Twenty Letters to a Friend. In 1984, she returned to the Soviet Union but left for the United Kingdom after the Soviet Union dissolved. She died in Wisconsin in 2011.

Ismail I, 1487-1524, Shah of Persia, Poet, and Warrior

Ismail’s father, Shah Shaykh Haydar, died when he was 1. The family went into hiding in 1494, when the Aq Qoyunlu Turks, who killed his father, conquered his home. He was educated and trained as a soldier and tactician during this time. At 12 he recaptured home with help from other armies.

In the following years he had enough support to take what the Aq Qoyunlu conquered. It worked and in 1501 Ismail was crowned, Shah of Azerbaijan. A year later was named Shah of Persia. He was 15. Eight years later conquered all of Persia. Ismail had Muhammad Shaybani, the Uzbeks’ Chieftain, body severed into several parts. They were displayed across the Persian Empire and had Shaybani’s skull turned into a jeweled goblet. 1514, the Ottomans defeated Ismail and he turned to drinking a lot.

Aside from that, he was a prominent poet during his time. He wrote under a pen name and was very successful and influential to Persian literature for the next centuries. Ismail had an interesting life.

Cleopatra, 69-30 BC, Pharaoh

Cleopatra VII Philopator was born to the Ptolemy XII Auletes of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Most agree her mother was Cleopatra V Tryphaena. Political corruption wreaked havoc during her life and through a series of events she became joint ruler with her father at 14 in 55 BC. Four years later her father died and she co-ruled with her 10 year old brother Ptolemy XIII, whom she was married to. She didn’t care for this and stopped using his name in official documents and removed him from coins. This got her exiled in 48 BC.

Her brother became the sole ruler but, he messed with Julius Caesar. Cleopatra took advantage of this and got Caesar’s support for her to take what she deserved. She got her throne back and co-ruled with other siblings. A few years later she met Mark Antony and we know what happened after that.

Boudicca, ?-61 AD, Warrior

Not too much is known about her. She was married to the King of Iceni, Prasutagus. The Iceni were a British tribe in Eastern Britain. She was apparently tall, had extremely long, bright red hair, and a powerful presence. Her husband died and the Romans took over Iceni territory. They were banished from their home to Mona, an island of Wales now known as Anglesey, with other refugees. Boudicca was not going to let this happen. For now, she had to wait.

In 60 AD the Romans began a campaign on the inhabitants of the Mona to finally conquer Britain. It was a refuge for the locals that the Romans kicked out of their homes. Boudicca became their leader. She led an effective rebellion to an extent until the Battle of Watling Street. Her forces outnumbered the Romans but Boudicca’s army was slaughtered. She allegedly poisoned herself in the defeat.

Margaret Sanger, 1879-1966, Social Activist

During her time and still now she’s a controversial figure. Ms. Sanger was number 6 out of 11 children. She initially wanted to become a nurse but had only limited formal training.

Sanger in her lifetime became a vocal and influential feminist icon. She focused on expanding birth control and providing basic sex education to the public. This, of course, was met with great resistance. She also founded Planned Parenthood. However, she also supported Eugenics. Despite that she achieved a lot left her mark on history.

Ramesses II, 1303-1213 BC, Pharaoh

This guy did a lot. First he had 60 daughters and 96 sons. That’s 156 children. He ruled the Egyptian empire for 66 years. He led many military campaigns famously against Syrian and expanded Egypt’s empire and influence. He’s the Pharaoh with the most monuments of himself. This was done so his legacy would always be remembered. It worked.

Lady Emma Hamilton, 1765-1815, Socialite and Model

Her early life is mysterious until the age of 12. She was a maid for various people. She ended up in London and worked with a young actress, Jane Powell. This got Emma interested in acting. She became a maid for actors. This led to her becoming a dancer, model and actress. She was 15. Shortly after this she took a lover, Sir Harry Featherstonhaugh, which fizzled out quickly.

She eventually met George Romney, a prominent painter of the era. He was immediately struck by her and became the subject of many of his most famous works. After this she met Sir William Hamilton and continued modeling for Romney. She was entwined with royalty from across Europe. As a result she met Horatio Nelson. She became his mistress while married to Sir Hamilton. Shortly after he died, Nelson died. Her life spiraled downwards from there and died in poverty.