To be a champion, you got to have determination, you've got to have guts; you have to train and let nothin' come between you and what you want, that goal you want to reach.

I was born on November 9, 1923, in Albany, Georgia. I was the fifth of Fred and Evelyn Coachman's ten children. I was unable to access athletic training facilities or participate in organized sports because of the color of My skin.Added to the list of training barriers was my status as a female athlete during a time of widespread opposition to women in sports. i trained using what was available to me, running shoeless along the dirt roads near her home and using homemade equipment to practice my jumping skills.

I attended Monroe Street Elementary School where i was encouraged by my year 5 teacher Cora Bailey and by my aunt, Carrie Spry, despite the reservations of my parents. Upon enrolling at Madison High School in 1938, i joined the track team, working with Harry E. Lash to develop my skill as an athlete. Within a year i drew the attention of the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama.

In 1993 i joined tuskegee preparatory school at the age of 16 because i was offered a scholarship,The scholarship required me to work while doing my studies and training,which included me cleaning and maintaining sports facilities as well as mending uniforms.

I later went on to graduate with a degree in dressmaking from the Tuskegee Institute in 1946. The following year i continued my studies at Albany State College, receiving a B.S. in Home Economics with a minor in science in 1949. I became a teacher and track-and-field instructor.

Prior to arriving at the Tuskegee Preparatory School, i competed in the Amateur Athletic Union's Women's National Championships breaking the college and National high jump records while competing barefoot.My unusual jumping style was a combination of straight jumping and western roll techniques.

I dominated the AAU outdoor high jump championship from 1939 through 1948, winning ten national championships in a row. In addition to my high jump accomplishments, i won national championships in the 50-meter dash, the 100-meter dash and with the 400-meter relay team as a student at the Tuskegee Institute. During the same period, I won three conference championships playing as a guard on the Tuskegee women's basketball team. Despite being in my prime, I was unable to compete in the 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games as they were canceled because of World War II. In the opinion of sportswriter Eric Williams, "Had she competed in those canceled Olympics, we would probably be talking about her as the No. 1 female athlete of all time."

my first opportunity to compete on a global stage was during the 1948 Olympic Games in London. i qualified for the US Olympic team with a high jump of 5 feet 4 inches breaking the previous 16-year-old record by ¾ of an inch.[2] In the high jump finals of the 1948 Summer Olympics, i leaped 1.68 m (5 ft 6⅛ in) on my first try. my nearest rival, Great Britain's Dorothy Tyler, matched my jump, but only on my second try. i was the only American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics in 1948. My medal was presented by King George