Willye White - RIP

[oldschool]

I was sorry to see of the death of Willye White from Chicago. She appeared as an athlete in 5 Olympics and was a 2 time silver medalist. As a 16 y.o. H.S. sophomore, she won a silver in the long jump in 1956 - first American woman to do so. A delightful and caring woman that many should seek to emulate.

Link: sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/02/07/bc.run.obit.white.ap/index.html

Note: Sorry that I posted here, I meant to place it on the Anything Else area.

[tc]

Time-out did you say she won an Olympic Silver medal as a 16 year old.

If you did that's impressive.

[oldschool]

Yes...she was a 16 y.o. sophomore in high school in Greenwood, Mississippi when she made the US team for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and won the silver in the long jump with a 6.09m jump (19'11.75"). She thereafter appeared in 4 additional Olympics including 1964 Tokyo where she won another silver as part of the US 4x100 relay.

[illini1]

16 is impressive, but let's not forget the accomplishments of the late Bob Mathias - quite possibly the greatest and most underrated athlete of the 20th century.

He won a gold medal in the decatholon at the age of 17 at the 1948 Olympic Games - in only his 3rd competitive decathlon EVER and despite the fact that he had never competed in pole vault, long jump, javelin or the 1,500-meter run as of 3 months before the Olympics. For an encore, he came back 4 years later and won by the largest margin in history, becoming the only man to win back-to-back golds in the decathlon.

[eatmosquirrel]

yet another male tryin to steal the sunshine of an accomplished female athlete. Bob Mathis didnt also JUST DIE!