Know Yourself...Be Yourself...Love Yourself - THE KIMBERLY JOY SHOW Fridays at 4:15PM & Saturdays at 6PM on Inspiration 1050 AM & 103.1 FM WGRI (Cincinnati) or www.inspiration1050.com

Tag: track and field

Young and Fearless: The Mae Faggs-Starr Story

YOUNG AND FEARLESS
An accomplished track and field athlete during the 1940s and 1950s, young and fearless are the words I would use to describe Mrs. Mae Faggs-Starr.

(Mae Faggs-Starr in the starting blocks)

In my previous blog post “A Little Girl Who Believed: The Wilma Rudolph Story,” I was pleased to recognize three-time Olympic gold medalist Wilma Rudolph for Black History Month. Now, I want to recognize Mrs. Starr, the woman who mentored Wilma and made it possible for me to meet the legendary runner. I was fortunate to know Mrs. Starr, who was my health teacher and track coach at Princeton High School in Cincinnati.

Mrs. Starr was born Aeriwentha Mae Faggs on April 10, 1932, in Mays Landing, New Jersey, to William and Hepsi Faggs. She was the only girl in a family of five children. She began running track in elementary school and later became a member of the Police Athletic League. She ran for the league from 1947 till 1952.

In 1948, she competed in her very first Olympics when she was only 16 years old, making her the youngest member of the team. She ran in the 200 meter dash and 400 meter relay. Unfortunately, she didn’t qualify for the finals. She later graduated from Bayside High School in Queens, New York. After high school, Mrs. Starr continued competing. Then in 1952, she and her teammates won a gold medal in the 400 meter relay at the Olympics, setting a world record.

(1952 U.S. 400 Meter Relay Team)

A TENNESSEE STATE TIGERBELLE
In the fall of 1952, Mrs. Starr attended Tennessee State University on a track scholarship and proudly became a Tennessee State Tigerbelle. Since athletic scholarships were rarely offered to female athletes at the time, this was a true blessing! While Mrs. Starr was at Tennessee State, she met Wilma Rudolph, who was still in high school. Each summer, several high school girls, including Wilma, would attend the university’s track camp, which was run by Coach Ed Temple. According to Coach Temple, although Mrs. Starr was very small, she was a world-class sprinter. All the girls, including Wilma, looked up to her. She became their leader and mentor. They affectionately described her as the “mother of the team”.

Four years later, Mrs. Starr returned to the 1956 Olympics with three of her teammates from Tennessee State, including Wilma, who was sixteen years old by this point. Their relay team won a bronze medal for the 400 meter relay event. This particular Olympics was especially meaningful for Mrs. Starr because it marked her as the first American woman to compete in three Olympics.

(M. Faggs-Starr, Coach Temple, W. Rudolph and other members of the 1956 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team)

OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Mrs. Starr achieved so much during her lifetime. Some of her other accomplishments include being the U.S. 100 meter dash champion in 1955 and 1956. She won the 200 meter title in 1954, 1955 and 1956. She won a silver medal in the 100 meter dash at the 1955 Pan American Games. She also won 11 National Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) titles.

In 1958, Mrs. Starr married Eddie Starr, and they had two children: daughter Evelyn and son Eddie II.

In 1976, she was elected into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.

After graduating from Tennessee State and retiring from track and field, Mrs. Starr and her family eventually relocated to Cincinnati. She received a master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati and taught physical education and health. After 32 years in education, she retired in 1989. Her final year as a teacher and coach turned out to be a very memorable year, not just because it was the year she retired, but because it was the year she led Princeton High School Girls’ Track Team to a State Championship!

As I mentioned before, I was fortunate to have Mrs. Starr as a health teacher and track coach. I didn’t run in that state championship meet, but I was there to witness my teammates win that title! It was such an exciting time! It was the first and only time the Princeton High School Girls’ Track Team won a state championship title. I believe it was all because of Mrs. Starr’s expertise as a world-class athlete. She didn’t just want the girls to have individual wins, but she wanted the team, as a whole, to win. She, therefore, knew what needed to be done in order to make that happen.

(Sitting in the first row on the far right, I was happy to be a part of the team.)

While researching information about Mrs. Starr, I couldn’t help but notice how her coaches and teammates always acknowledged her as a true leader. She cared about helping others be successful. Although she was competitive, she wasn’t selfish. She took many young athletes, including Wilma Rudolph, under her wing. That kind of leadership and love carried over into her role as a teacher and coach.
(Wilma Rudolph and Mae Faggs-Starr racing to the finish line)

On January 27, 2000, Mrs. Mae Starr died from cancer at the age of 67 in Cincinnati.

(Coach Mae Faggs-Starr)

AN INSPIRATION
I share the story of Mrs. Starr because she was such an inspiration. When I think about all that she accomplished, she did it FEARLESSLY. If she was ever afraid, she didn’t let it show. For those who knew Mrs. Starr, she was very short. So, as an athlete, she was often smaller than her competitors. Nevertheless, she didn’t let that intimidate her. As I mentioned previously, in her very first Olympics in 1948, she was the youngest athlete on the team. However, she didn’t even let age intimidate her. She had a goal, and she went after it! Even though she didn’t win a medal at that particular Olympics, she was determined to compete at the next Olympics, and that is exactly what she did. Not only did she compete, but she took home the gold!

(Olympic Gold Medalist Mae Faggs-Starr)

When Mrs. Starr decided to go to college, she chose a school in the south. Here was a young black woman, born and raised in the north, who didn’t know much or anything about living in the South where segregation was still very much alive. And she didn’t let any fear of the unknown stop her from achieving her goals of earning a college degree.

BE FEARLESS
Just like Mrs. Starr, God is calling for us, His children, to be fearless. One of my favorite scriptures is II Timothy 1:7:

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

If you have a particular goal or dream you want to achieve, what’s stopping you? Who’s stopping you? Romans 8:37 let’s us know that “we are more than conquerors through Christ who loves us.” So, no one can really stop you….but you!

It doesn’t matter what others may think or say. What do YOU say? What does GOD say? Philippians 4:13 says that you can do all things through Christ because He gives you the strength. He enables you to. So, again, what or who is stopping you? Mrs. Starr didn’t let anything or anyone stop her! And neither should you!

I encourage you to step out on faith! Take some chances! Take some risks! Even if you are nervous or afraid, as long as you know that God has shown you the vision, then do it anyway! Move through the fear! As our pastor Apostle Ron Banks always says, “You’ll never conquer anything you refuse to confront.”

Sources:
nytimes.com
books.google.com

(“The Kimberly Joy Show: Honoring Mae Starr for Black History Month”)

If you find value in this blog post, please share.

To subscribe to The Kimberly Joy Blog and receive new posts by email, please leave your email address in the box marked SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG VIA EMAIL provided at the end of this post.

A Little Girl Who Believed: The Wilma Rudolph Story

A LITTLE GIRL WHO BELIEVED
In honor of Black History Month, this week I would like to recognize Wilma Rudolph, a woman who began her journey as a little girl who believed! What did she believe, you ask? She believed that she would overcome every obstacle life had thrown at her from the time she was born. Because of her undying faith, she made history becoming the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field in a single Olympics.

Wilma Rudolph was born on June 23, 1940, in St. Bethlehem, Tennessee, to Ed and Blanche Rudolph. Born prematurely, Wilma had a few serious health problems in her early years, including double pneumonia, scarlet fever and polio. The polio virus is “a disease that attacks the central nervous system and often causes developmental problems in children.” As a result of the virus, she suffered paralysis. When she was finally able to walk, she had to wear braces on her legs until she was about nine years old.

After enduring years of hospital visits and treatments, Wilma stunned her doctors when she began walking without the use of leg braces. Not only did Wilma start walking normally, but she began running and playing basketball with her brothers and sisters and other children her age. Considering all that Wilma had gone through as a child, she was living proof that God performs miracles! Wilma said, “My doctors told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother.” Talk about faith! One of the things I always admired about Wilma Rudolph was her faith that one day she would be able to run, jump and play like any other child.

Matthew 17:20 says:

“…If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

A STAR ATHLETE
Later in high school, Wilma began proving herself as a star athlete when she set a new state record scoring 803 points in twenty-five games as a sophomore on the girls’ basketball team. During this time, she also began attending summer track camps at Tennessee State University with coach Ed Temple. In 1956, at the tender age of 16, she won a bronze medal at the Summer Olympics in the 400-meter relay event. In fact, she ran on that relay team with my high school freshman track coach Mae Starr.

At the 1960 Olympics, Wilma became the first American woman to win three gold medals in the track and field competition. She won the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter relay. To add to her accomplishments, she tied the world record in the 100 meter dash and set a new Olympic record in the 200.

A GREAT INFLUENCE
A couple of years later, Wilma chose to retire from track and field and focus on her new career as a teacher and raising her family. Although Wilma retired, she continued to be a great influence. She definitely influenced me! Her autobiography Wilma, which was also made into a television movie, was published in 1977. The movie starred Oscar winning actor Denzel Washington in his first movie role. He portrayed Robert Eldridge, the man Wilma later married. I can’t tell you how many times I watched my VHS tape of that movie throughout junior high and high school!

In addition, Wilma contributed to inner-city sports clinics and university track teams. She also founded the Wilma Rudolph Foundation which was dedicated to developing young athletes. Wilma was inducted into the National Black Sports and Entertainment Hall of Fame in 1973, the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1974, the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983 and the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1994.

On November 12, 1994, at the age of 54, Wilma Rudolph died of a brain tumor in Brentwood, Tennessee. I remember when I got the news that she had passed away. I was living on campus at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio). It was either a Saturday or Sunday morning when my dad called to tell me the sad news. After we hung up, I just lay on the bed and cried. You would have thought I had known her personally. Next, I looked up at the pictures of her I had on my dorm room wall. I then thanked God for allowing me the opportunity to meet Wilma face to face.

THE DAY I MET WILMA RUDOLPH
The day I met Wilma Rudolph was a day I will never forget! I was in the 10th grade, and our track team was at the district track meet at Fairfield High School in Fairfield, Ohio. While a few of my teammates and I were standing down by the track to support one of our runners, our former track coach Mrs. Starr surprised us. We were so excited to see her, but we were even more excited when she told us she had THEE WILMA RUDOLPH in the car. I didn’t realize until that moment that she and Wilma had remained friends all those years.

When Wilma walked into the stadium, I couldn’t believe my eyes! She was tall, slender and beautiful just like in all the pictures I had seen of her! Naturally, I asked for her autograph. She agreed to give it to me after the track meet. Well, since I was finished with my events for the day, you know what I did! I sat right next to her until the end of the meet. Then I followed her to the parking lot where she signed an autograph for me (and my brother BJ), which I STILL have in my photo album. It’s too bad we didn’t have camera phones back then because I would have definitely taken a picture of the two of us!

MY HERO
I share the story of Wilma Rudolph because she was my hero. Being a sprinter myself, I connected with her. I also admired her faith and perseverance. It amazed me that a young girl, who always seemed to be sick and could barely walk, later became an Olympic champion. Her story taught me that man doesn’t have the final say. Doctors don’t have the final say. But, GOD has the final say! God chose to heal a little black girl from a poor community in Tennessee simply because she BELIEVED! Young Wilma believed that she would one day walk. Think about that! All it took was her believing! And I believe that not only did she have faith that she would be healed, but she SAW herself healed! I believe she had visions of walking and playing with the other children.

I remember a scene from the movie, in which Wilma was at home with her mother and father while her siblings were off playing somewhere like children typically do. Instead of sitting in the house and feeling sorry for herself, Wilma grabbed the basketball and went outside to the homemade basketball hoop in the front yard. While she was shooting baskets, she removed her shoes and leg braces. When her parents noticed what she had done, they didn’t scold her for taking off her leg braces, but they watched with amazement. James 2:26 says:

“Faith without works is dead.”

Young Wilma understood that she had to put her faith into action!

Another thing I appreciate about Wilma’s story, is the support she received from her parents and siblings. Again, Wilma believed that she would walk because her mother said she would. That says a lot about parental influence. If you are a parent, it’s important that you speak LIFE into your children. You are their biggest influence, especially during their formative years. What you say to them, how you treat them, if you support them, whether or not you love on them, will influence them in a positive OR negative way.

HAVE FAITH
Just like Wilma Rudolph had faith that she would one day live the life of a normal child, I encourage you to have faith that your life is going to turn around for the better! If you need healing, believe God! If you want to go to college, believe God! If you want a better job, believe God! If you want to move into a better neighborhood, believe God! If you want to buy your own home, believe God! Wilma Rudolph was a sickly, physically disabled little black girl from a poor community who grew up to become a world-renowned Olympic champion. If God could do it for her, He can certainly do it for you! You just have to do as she did, remove those hindrances and step out on faith!!!!

Sources:
notablebiographies.com
biography.com

(“The Kimberly Joy Show: Honoring Wilma Rudolph for Black History Month”)

If you find value in this blog post, please share.

To subscribe to The Kimberly Joy Blog and receive new posts by email, please leave your email address in the box marked SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG VIA EMAIL provided at the end of this post.

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén