Coachman, Alice (1923–2014), was the first African American woman to win a gold medal in the Olympic Games . Coachman won the women’s high jump at the 1948 summer games in London. She set an Olympic record of 5 feet 6 1/8 inches (1.68 meters).
Coachman was born on Nov. 9, 1923, in Albany, Georgia. She showed athletic ability as a child, but because of the racial segregation of the time, she was barred from using public sports facilities. Coachman also faced prejudice against women participating in organized sports. However, she received encouragement from her fifth-grade teacher and from her aunt.
Coachman enrolled in Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University ) in 1939, where she broke both the collegiate and national women’s high jump records. She also ran on the 4×100–meter relay team that won the national championship in 1941 and 1942. Coachman won the national 50–meter dash five times and the 100–meter dash three times. During her career, she held 25 national titles. She also played on the Tuskegee women’s basketball team that won three national championships.
Coachman graduated from Tuskegee Institute in 1946 with a degree in dressmaking. She later enrolled at Albany State College (later Albany University), earning a B.A. degree in home economics in 1949.
Because of World War II (1939–1945), the Olympic Games were cancelled in 1940 and 1944, so Coachman could not compete in the Olympics until 1948. She retired as a competitor after the 1948 Olympics and became a teacher and coach. She also formed the Alice Coachman Track and Field Foundation to provide assistance to former Olympic athletes. During the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Coachman was honored as one of the 100 greatest Olympic athletes in history. Coachman died on July 14, 2014.
