Alice Coachman, American athlete, was the first black women to earn Olympic gold in London in 1948, with a record breaking high jump1. Excelling in track and field in her teens, she “amassed 25 national titles” between 1939-19482. In 1952, Coachman became a spokeperson for Coca Cola, the first African American female to earn such an endorsement deal3. Her honors include being inducted in the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1975, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2004 and being named one of the 100 greatest Olympians in history in the 1996 Summer Olympics and Atlanta4.
To learn more about Alice Coachman, visit https://www.biography.com/people/alice-coachman-21335855, http://www.blackpast.org/aah/coachman-alice-marie-1923 and https://www.teamusa.org/News/2014/July/15/Alice-Coachman-made-high-jump-into-history.
2. https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/sports-and-games/sports-biographies/alice-coachman
4. http://thehilltoponline.com/2017/02/16/alice-coachman-the-first-black-female-olympic-gold-medalist/