1. Alice Marie Coachman Davis was an American athlete.
18 Facts About Alice Coachman
1. 2.
Alice Coachman specialized in high jump and was the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal.
3.
Alice Coachman was born on November 9,1923, in Albany, Georgia.
4.
Alice Coachman was the fifth of Fred and Evelyn Coachman's ten children.
5.
Alice Coachman trained using what was available to her, running shoeless along the dirt roads near her home and using homemade equipment to practice her jumping.
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Alice Coachman attended Monroe Street Elementary School where she was encouraged by her 5th grade teacher, Cora Bailey, and by her aunt, Carrie Spry, despite the reservations of her parents.
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Alice Coachman went on to graduate with a degree in dressmaking from the Tuskegee Institute in 1946.
8.
Alice Coachman's unusual jumping style was a combination of straight jumping and western roll techniques.
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Alice Coachman dominated the AAU outdoor high jump championship from 1939 through 1948, winning ten national championships in a row.
10.
Alice Coachman was the only American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics in 1948.
11.
Alice Coachman dedicated the rest of her life to education and to the Job Corps.
12.
Alice Coachman died in Albany, Georgia on July 14,2014, of cardiac arrest after suffering through respiratory problems.
13.
Alice Coachman had a stroke a few months prior for which she received treatment from a nursing home.
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Alice Coachman had two children during her first marriage to N F Davis, which ended in divorce.
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In 1979 Alice Coachman was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.
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Alice Coachman was an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, inducted in 1998 In 2002, she was designated a Women's History Month Honoree by the National Women's History Project.
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Alice Coachman was inducted to the USA Track and Field Hall of fame in 1975 and the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 2004.
18.
Alice Coachman has received recognition for opening the door for future African-American track stars such as Evelyn Ashford, Florence Griffith Joyner, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee.