Olympic gold medalist Wilma Rudolph was born with polio. She could barely use her left leg and suffered pneumonia and scarlet fever before the age of four, but hard work and determination changed Rudolph's life. With vigorous therapy she regained the use of her leg, began participating in track meets, and went on to win three Olympic gold medals as well as many more races. Daily therapy strengthened her crippled leg Rudolph was born on …showed first 75 words of 1118 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1118 total…provided special inspiration to handicapped youths who otherwise might never work to overcome their physical problems. In her remaining years, Rudolph served as president of the Indianapolis-based Wilma Rudolph Foundation. In June 1993, Rudolph, along with Arnold Palmer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammad Ali, and Ted Williams, were honored by President Bill Clinton as "the Great Ones" at the first National Sports Awards. Just over a year later, on November 12, 1994, Rudolph died of brain cancer in Nashville, Tennessee.