Aime Alley Card, Author of The Tigerbelles, Olympic Legends from Tennessee State:
“I grew up in Nashville knowing about the Tigerbelles as the highest achievement in athletics, not just for women, but for everyone. People know about Wilma Rudolph, the superstar on the team who won three gold medals in one Olympics. But more people don’t know about the whole team, the whole Tigerbelles.”
On this episode of The Women’s Eye podcast, bestselling author Laura Munson, founder of Haven Writing Retreats in Montana, chats with Aime Alley Card about her book and this remarkable team. Their talent was incomparable; their journey to the Olympics could not have been more challenging. As Laura says, “Their story is heartbreaking and heartwarming in equal measure.”
Available also on Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube
Once you meet this incredible team, you will wonder how they succeeded when the odds were incredibly against them. Their amazing Coach Edward Temple pushed them to the limit as they traveled to compete in segregated parts of the country.
Aime describes how eight women at the Olympics in Rome made it to the final competition and four of them came back home with gold medals in 1960. Wilma Rudolph won three including the 4X100m relay with her team and broke three world records. The world fell in love with the them. This one team is said to have changed the face of women’s athletics forever.
“I felt like they deserved to have their story shared and other people could be inspired by them like I was,” says Aime.
“This is one of those stories that once you start digging in and uncovering little bits, you just want to find out more and more about each person. It’s a big team…and together they make this team that accomplished this incredible feat.”
Not only were they remarkable athletes but students that cared about their studies, too.
“The thing that Coach Temple was most proud of was that all of his Olympic athletes had graduated from college,” says Aime. “That was the primary thing for him, not how they won, not how many went to the Olympics.”
Aime also describes her journey through cancer treatment at a young age and how writing has helped her heal. She endured debilitating chemotherapy and two surgeries.
“It’s really hard to tell your own story. But I think if you feel like it can help one other person, it’s worth it.”
To follow and learn more about Aime and the Tigerbelles, watch/listen to the podcast, and you can’t help but be as inspired as we were.
Website: aimecard.com
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