Wyomia Tyus

High school

Griffin High School

College

Tennessee State University

Hall of Fame

⭐ U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame

Wyomia Tyus was born on August 29, 1945, in Griffin, Georgia (Spalding County), the daughter of a dairy farmer, and attended Griffin High School before earning a scholarship to Tennessee State University under the legendary Coach Ed Temple, whose "Tigerbelles" produced more Olympic gold medalists than any other program in the world. At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Tyus won the gold medal in the 100-meter dash — an event where no American woman had ever won gold before. Then, at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, she repeated as gold medalist in the 100m, becoming the first athlete in Olympic history — male or female — to win consecutive gold medals in the 100-meter dash. She also anchored the U.S. 4×100m relay team to a world record gold in Mexico City, where the American women — in solidarity with their Black male teammates Tommie Smith and John Carlos — wore black armbands during their victory. Tyus' accomplishment of back-to-back 100m golds remained unmatched until Usain Bolt did it in 2012, nearly half a century later. Despite the magnitude of her achievement, Tyus spent decades as one of the least recognized Olympic champions in American history — a fact she attributed directly to the gender bias of sports media in the 1960s. She was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1985. Born and raised in Griffin, Georgia.