Tuskegee Institute track star Alice Coachman was the first black female athlete to win an Olympic gold medal. At the 1948 London Olympics, Coachman set an Olympic record in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 6-1/8 inches. She was one of 12 torchbearers for the Atlanta Olympic games in 1996. Coachman was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1997 and the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 2004.

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Encyclopedia of Alabama

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