Willye White

Willye White ( born January 1, 1939 in Money, Mississippi, † February 6, 2007 in Chicago) was an American athlete who was successful 1956-1972 in the long jump. She started for the Tennessee State University and was trained by Ed Temple.

White participated in five Olympic Games and won two silver medals:

• XIII. Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956: Silver in the long jump with 6.09 m behind the Polin Elżbieta Krzesińska ( gold with 6.35 m ) and before the Georgian Nadezhda Dwalischwili ( bronze with 6,07 m)
• XV. Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 1964: Silver 4x100m ( White as the starting runner ) with team colleagues Wyomia Tyus, Marilyn White and Edith McGuire in 43.92 s behind Poland ( gold in 43.69 s ) and ahead of Great Britain ( bronze in 44.09 s )

For the rest of her Olympic appearances they did not reach the finals in the long jump.

For this, they could win a medal three times at the Pan American Games:

Willye White was called 34 times in the national team and represented her country eleven times in a row during an international match USA - USSR. She won 12 AAU championships and set seven national records in the long jump. Your personal best is 6.55 m.

She was a member of the Black Sports Hall of Fame and the Woman's Sports Foundation Hall of Fame. In 1991, she founded the Willye White Foundation, whose mission is the professional and social advancement of young girls.