American Olympian high jumper Alice Coachman dies at 90

The first black woman to win Olympic gold – and the only American woman to win gold in track and field at the 1948 London Games has died at the age of 90 on July 14, the same day that Nadine Gordimer, Nobel Prize winning South African author also died at the age of 90. Alice Marie Coachman died of stroke in Albany, Georgia. Both were born in 1923 (Gordimer on November 20 and Coachman on November 9).

Coachman won gold in high jump at the 1948 London Olympics in front of King George VI who awarded the medal. Afterwards she was invited to board the royal yacht. At the height of her international achievement, praised around the world, she returned home to a segregated society. The mayor of Albany, at the time, would not shake her hand when the city celebrated her success (New York Times, July 16, 2014). Similarly, Nadine Gordimer – also internationally acclaimed – lived in the era of South African apartheid (1948-1994).

Coachman achieved her success at a time when she was not allowed to train with white athletes, so her training ground was the nearby grasslands where she ran barefoot. She came from a family of 10 children, and it is said her father was angered by her “unladylike” interest in athletics. When she moved to Tuskegee to attend high school and college, she won the Amateur Athletic Union high jump championship 10 consecutive times. She was also proficient in the 100 meter sprint and the relay.

She won gold at the age of 24, because the 1940 and 1944 Olympics were cancelled due to World War II. She beat Britain's Dorothy Tyler – but only on a countback. They both jumped the same height, but Coachman did it on her first jump, so she took first place. French Micheline Ostermeyer was third. This was Coachman’s first and only time at the Olympics. She is better known as Alice Coachman Davis after her marriage to NF Davis, and also her second marriage to Frank Davis.

Comments

2016 update on Rike Park, Tbilisi: from construction to busy park

From a flat patch of uninteresting dirt, Rike Park in Tbilisi, Georgia, has transformed in four years (from 2014-2016) into a busy park full of trees, flower beds, sculptures, fountains, and events. Rike (Rikhe) Park is on the left bank of the Mt’k’vari River (the Kura River) near the Old City of Tbilisi. The Peace Bridge links the right bank to Rike Park. Rike Park is below the hillside Presidential Palace and, via cable car, it is the starting point for the ride to Sololaki Ridge (with the Narikala Fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue). The glass box-shaped cable car terminus was opened on 23 June 2012, and since then the park has continually developed into a ‘people’s park’ where people can walk around, eat at the nearby restaurants, sit next to the statue of American president Ronald Reagan, climb the steps to Avlabari district, and access the sights of Meidan Square, the Peace Bridge, the Metekhi Church, the Old City, the waterfall, the sulphur baths, and t...

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog