No. 879 Olympian

Betty "Babe" Robinson was 16 years old when her biology teacher witnessed her run full out to catch a commuter train he was sure she would miss. Impressed, Coach Price invited Babe to train with the Thornton Township High School boys' track team. In her first meet, Babe came in second in the sixty yard dash, but during the next competition, she broke the women's world record. Less than 6 months after her discovery by Coach Price, Babe won a gold medal in the 100 meter dash at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, beating the Canadian favorite. Unfortunately, a year before the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, she was seriously injured in a plane crash and was not expected to live much less walk again. However, Babe fought back and eventually ran again. She won a second gold medal at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.