Wyomia Tyus (pronunciation: why-o-ma; born August 29, 1945 in Griffin, Georgia) is an American athlete, and the first person to retain the Olympic title in the 100 m.
Tyus, from Tennessee State University, participated in the 1964 Summer Olympics at age 19. In the heats of the event, she equalled Wilma Rudolph's World Record, propelling her to a favourite for the final, where her main rival would be fellow American Edith McGuire. Tyus won the final, beating McGuire by two tenths. At the same Olympics, she also won a silver medal with the 4 x 100 m relay team, finishing only behind Poland.
The following years, Tyus won numerous national championships in the sprint events, and a gold medal in the 200 m at the Pan-American Games. In 1968, she returned to the Olympics to defend her title in the 100 m. In the final, she set a new World Record of 11.08 to become the first woman to retain the Olympic 100 m title. Tyus also qualified for the 200 m final, in which she finished sixth. Running the final leg for the relay team, Tyus helped setting a new World Record, winning her third gold medal.
Tyus retired from amateur sports after the 1968 Olympics.
In 1973 she was invited to compete in the 60-yard dash in the new Professional International Track Association competitions. Her first year back she won eight of eighteen events, but the following year she won every event she entered, a total of twenty-two races. Tyus went on to coach at Beverly Hills High School and was a founding member of the Women's Sports Foundation.
During the Richard Dawson era of Family Feud, Tyus appeared with her family. They won the $5,000 prize. In 1980, Tyus was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame.[1] In 1985, she was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.
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- ^ http://www.usatf.org/halloffame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=175 Retrieved 2008-08-22.
| Olympic Champions in Women's 4×100 m relay | | 1928 Canada Fanny Rosenfeld, Ethel Smith, Jane Bell & Myrtle Cook • 1932 United States Mary Carew, Evelyn Furtsch, Annette Rogers & Wilhelmina von Bremen • 1936 United States Harriet Bland, Annette Rogers, Betty Robinson & Helen Stephens • 1948 Netherlands Xenia Stad-de Jong, Netty Witziers-Timmer, Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs & Fanny Blankers-Koen 1952 United States Mae Faggs, Barbara Jones, Janet Moreau & Catherine Hardy • 1956 Australia Shirley Strickland de la Hunty, Norma Croker, Fleur Mellor & Betty Cuthbert • 1960 United States Martha Hudson, Lucinda Williams, Barbara Jones & Wilma Rudolph • 1964 Poland Teresa Cieply, Irena Szewinska, Halina Górecka & Ewa Klobukowska • 1968 United States Barbara Ferrell, Margaret Bailes, Mildrette Netter & Wyomia Tyus • 1972 West Germany Christiane Krause, Ingrid Mickler, Annegret Richter & Heidemarie Rosendahl • 1976 East Germany Marlies Göhr, Renate Stecher, Carla Bodendorf & Bärbel Wöckel • 1980 East Germany Romy Müller, Bärbel Wöckel, Ingrid Auerswald & Marlies Göhr • 1984 United States Alice Brown, Jeanette Bolden, Chandra Cheeseborough & Evelyn Ashford • 1988 United States Alice Brown, Sheila Echols, Florence Griffith Joyner & Evelyn Ashford • 1992 United States Evelyn Ashford, Esther Jones, Carlette Guidry & Gwen Torrence • 1996 United States Gail Devers, Inger Miller, Chryste Gaines & Gwen Torrence • 2000 Bahamas Savatheda Fynes, Chandra Sturrup, Pauline Davis-Thompson & Debbie Ferguson • 2004 Jamaica Tayna Lawrence, Sherone Simpson, Aleen Bailey & Veronica Campbell • 2008 Russia Evgeniya Polyakova, Aleksandra Fedoriva, Yulia Gushchina & Yuliya Chermoshanskaya | |
