She became a three-time Olympic gold medalist and the fastest woman in history. Rewind the clock and she is a child in a heavy metal leg brace, told by doctors that polio meant she might never walk normally again. This deep dive traces how Wilma Rudolph shattered grim medical expectations and forced political change in her hometown.

Born prematurely in 1940, the 20th of 22 children, she survived pneumonia, scarlet fever, and polio. Her family massaged her weakened leg four times a day for years, and weekly bus trips took her 50 miles to Meharry Medical College. Discovered playing basketball by coach Ed Temple, she won three golds in Rome in 1960 on a cinder track, then integrated her hometown parade.

• What polio did to her body and how family therapy kept the muscle viable
• Coach Ed Temple, the Tigerbelles, and refining bas ...