*Historically, women – especially African American women – have faced some serious barriers to entry in the world of professional sports. This was thanks to the discrimination in contests, leagues, and other similar events.
There were, however, some women who managed to shatter past these barriers to etch their names in history. Would you like to find out more about these African American women in sports? Well, here they are:
1.    Althea Gibson
Gibson belonged to a troubled and poor childhood during the period of the Great Depression and she had somehow managed to discover that she was very good at tennis. At the time, most of the major tennis competitions were hosted by White-Only services. When she turned 23, however, she had received her first invitation to play at the Nationals. She had also managed to become the first-ever Black person to play at Wimbledon.
2.    Jackie Joyner – Kersee
A field and track athlete, Joyner had managed to rank among the very best all-round athletes from all over the world. Her specialty events were the heptathlon and the long jump. Her wins include medals in the 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996 Olympics. These included 3 gold medals, a silver medal, and a bronze.
3.    Florence Griffith Joyner
A relative of Jackie Joyner’s husband, Florence Griffith was also a field and track star. She had managed to set the world record for 100m and 200m in the 1988 Olympics and these still have not been surpassed. This is why she was nicknamed ‘Flo-Jo’ or even ‘the Fastest Woman in the World’. Joyner had managed to bag 3 gold medals for her unbroken world records.
4.    Lynette Woodard
Now, let’s bounce off into the world of basketball with the first-ever woman player amongst the Harlem Globetrotters. Before this, she had also participated in the gold medal-winning Olympics Basketball team in 1959 and she joined the Globetrotters simply to break the gender barrier.
5.    Wyomia Tyus
Wyomia Tyus was not only good but she was quite consistent as she kept winning gold medals for the Olympic 100 meter dash in 1968. When the Black power controversy had occurred in the massive sporting event she had chosen not to boycott it and rather to compete and thrash her competition. Only 3 other athletes have been able to follow her and replicate what she did.
With these women, we have barely even scratched the surface. We want to talk about Wilma Rudolph – who was also the fastest woman in the world. We also want to mention the notable careers of Venus and Serena Williams but won’t be able to do justice to their gloriousness.
The more you find about African American women in sports, the more your eyes will widen in surprise!
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