Becoming a pioneer for Black American women in track and field wasn’t initially on the radar for Alice Coachman, but that’s exactly what happened in 1948 when Coachman became the first Black woman ever – from any country – to win an Olympic gold medal.
This summer marks the 75th anniversary of Coachman’s historic win at the 1948 Olympics in London, where she competed in the high jump and cleared 5 feet 6 1/8-inches on her first attempt to set an Olympic record. As Black Heritage Month comes to a close and we look ahead to Women’s History Month in March, On Her Turf looks back at Coachman’s trail-blazing journey.
“I didn’t know I had won,” Coachman told Team USA in an interview ahead of the 2012 London Olympics. “I was on my way to receive the medal and I saw my name on the board. And, of course, I glanced over into the stands where my coach was, and she was clapping her hands.”
But it was no easy route to the top of the Olympic podium for Coachman, who grew up in southwest Georgia – the fifth of 10 children — during an era of racial segregation. The discriminatory Jim Crow laws left Coachman with little access to athletic facilities, so she took to running on dirt roads, sometimes barefoot, and built her own hurdles to practice jumping — even creating a high jump crossbar with rope and sticks.
Despite not having the support of her parents, Coachman persevered. It was while attending Madison High School in Albany, Ga., that she joined the boys’ track team, and coach Harry E. Lash recognized and nurtured her talent. When Coachman broke the high school high-jump record while competing barefoot at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national championships as a freshman, she caught the attention of the athletic department at Tuskegee Institute (now known as Tuskegee University) in Tuskegee, Alabama. She was just 16 years old when she was offered a scholarship in 1939.