When Wilma Rudolph was born premature and underweight, her family knew she would have a tough life ahead of her. Then, after contracting measles, pneumonia, Scarlett fever, and paralytic polio, doctors told her mother that she would likely never walk again. But she regained the ability to walk and only a few years later, Wilma was competing at the 1956 Olympics in three sprinting events. Four years after that, she had broken multiple world records and won gold in three different events.

So hit the starting blocks and prepare to sprint to the finish line for the penultimate episode of Wild World of Sport season one. Our Christmas special features discussions about debilitating diseases, Shaquille O’Neil’s birth weight, and our final ranking on our wild and mild board for 2025, in our journey to find the wildest story from the world of sport.

Sources:

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/wilma-rudolph#:~:text=Rudolph%20survived%20bouts%20of%20polio,mother%20told%20me%20I%20would.

https://www.olympics.com/en/news/remarkable-rudolph-defies-odds-with-sprint-treble

https://www.olympics.com/en/athletes/wilma-rudolph

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/polio/symptoms-causes/syc-20376512

https://www.achievementnetwork.org/hubfs/blog%20pdfs/Wilma+Rudolph+Text+and+Textual+Analysis.pdf

https://www.nytimes.com/1961/02/04/archives/one-world-indoor-record-set-and-two-tied-in-millrose-track-at.html

https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/wilma-rudolph#:~:text=She%20also%20became%20a%20motivational,Athletic%20Association's%20Silver%20Anniversary%20Award.

Presenters:

James Whybrow

Ben Whybrow

Carlin Sheaves

Music and cover art:

Zoe Behrendt