Betty Robinson got into a plane crash and was mistakenly pronounced dead. She spent 7 weeks in a coma and it took her 2 years to learn to walk again. 5 years later, she won a gold medal in the Olympic Games 1936
She is also the youngest person to win a gold in the 100m as a 16-year-old high school junior. It was the fourth track meet of her life.
Edit: I probably should have clarified that the gold medal I am referring to was won at the 1928 Olympics and not at the 1936 Olympics where she won the gold medal as part of the 4x100m relay team - her injuries prevented her from kneeling for the 100 m start. The posted photo is at the Library of Congress with no date and the following caption:
Betty Robinson, sprint champion, may run again. Chichago, Ill.
Based on the fact that she couldn't kneel for the 1936 Olympics, the implications of the caption and other dated photos of her the posted photo was taken before the 1931 plane crash. Her jersey looks like the one she wore when she competed for Northwestern University at Evanston Illinois in 1930 and 1931 so the posted photo was probably taken in one of those years.
I spent 5 weeks in a coma, took 3 years to learn to walk without assistive devices (cane/walker) and let me just say woooooow I feel personally attacked. An olympic gold? Man sometimes I make it through the day without falling on my face and I count those as good days.
dave_001 on September 17th, 2020 at 18:29 UTC »
You can see the stone cold determination in her eyes
notbob1959 on September 17th, 2020 at 18:31 UTC »
She is also the youngest person to win a gold in the 100m as a 16-year-old high school junior. It was the fourth track meet of her life.
Edit: I probably should have clarified that the gold medal I am referring to was won at the 1928 Olympics and not at the 1936 Olympics where she won the gold medal as part of the 4x100m relay team - her injuries prevented her from kneeling for the 100 m start. The posted photo is at the Library of Congress with no date and the following caption:
Based on the fact that she couldn't kneel for the 1936 Olympics, the implications of the caption and other dated photos of her the posted photo was taken before the 1931 plane crash. Her jersey looks like the one she wore when she competed for Northwestern University at Evanston Illinois in 1930 and 1931 so the posted photo was probably taken in one of those years.
MFDork on September 17th, 2020 at 19:53 UTC »
I spent 5 weeks in a coma, took 3 years to learn to walk without assistive devices (cane/walker) and let me just say woooooow I feel personally attacked. An olympic gold? Man sometimes I make it through the day without falling on my face and I count those as good days.