CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — You can’t travel through the City of Clarksville and not feel Wilma Rudolph’s impact.
From street signs to statues, she’s influenced many like that of Patti Marquess.
“When I was eight years old, of course the news…made it to Hopkinsville that a Clarksville girl had won three gold medals at the 1960s Olympics,” she said.
Legacy Trail shares Clarksville’s African American history
Growing up nearby in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Marquess came from an era where women’s sports didn’t exist just yet in county schools.
“In 1966 when I started high school at Christian County High School, there were no girl sports at all,” she said.
However, Marquees believes Wilma played a huge role in her high school finally getting a girls track team filled with both Black and white runners.
“In two years, we won two state championships back-to-back,” she said.
In 1940, Rudolph was born in Clarksville, the 20th out of 22 children.
Polio paralyzed her when she was a child, but by the time she was 12, she began to walk and soon went on to be a world renowned sprinter.