Madeline Manning

Madeline Manning-Mims (January 11, 1948) is a former American runner and Olympic champion. Between 1967 and 1981 she won ten national titles and set a number of American records. She participated in the 1968, 1972, and w:1976 Summer Olympics. She likely also would have participated in the 1980 Games in Moscow, had they not been boycotted by the United States. At the 1968 Olympics she won a gold medal in the 800 m, one of only two American women to win this event. (To date, the other was Athing Mu who won gold in the 2020 Olympics.) Until 2008, she was the youngest winner of the event. Quotes I was very young, I was a sophomore in college, was on a team that had some of the top sprinters in the world, the TigerBelles. I was the one woman in the world that broke the myth that women of color could not run long distance,” Manning-Mims said. “It was because they thought we only had quick flex muscles and that we couldn’t run long distance. My performance, in breaking the Olympic record and American record, shattered that myth. Charlie Moore and Madeline Manning-Mims, September 02 2026 In one of the World Track & Field Championships, one of the Nigerian diplomats came up to me to meet me personally and I was introduced to him and he said, ‘I know very well who she is.  She is the woman who has opened the door to the world for women of color to run in distance.’  And I never really thought of it in that way… I never realized that I was doing something that phenomenal.  But then when I looked at the video I realized that I was the only black woman in the whole mix. I didn’t know that I opened the door for women.  But now I look at it and you see all these women of different colors just topping not only the middle distance that I ran but the distance and ultra distances. That was pretty cool that I was able to do that. Madeline Manning Mims: Olympic Pioneer, March 30 2021 I would get threatening letters … saying ‘You shouldn’t be there, and why don’t you move out the way and let a white girl do it. I was one of the youngest on the US team, and it was quite overwhelming for me. The US was battling with a lot of racial prejudice at the time – and I was pioneering in a field led by Caucasians. The Europeans and the US girls were all white – I was the only black girl in there. Some people didn’t understand the importance of me being there. I would get threatening letters and telegrams saying ‘You shouldn’t be there, and why don’t you move out the way and let a white girl do it’. There was outcry from American blacks for representation and recognition in our country, so I had a lot on my back at that time. What kept me steady and balanced was to know that God created me to be there – he believed in me so I decided to run for his glory. It was a change in direction for my sports development. I told her I would go out fast, get the lead then slow the pack down, and for her to come up next to me and we would control the race. She went and told her coach what she was going to do. He was prejudiced and told her ‘Stay in the back, and let her go out and run out – when she gets tired you can come through and win the race’. Which was stupid, because when she didn’t come up I realised ‘You’re on your own now’ and ran my own race. I was so close to breaking two minutes (which I later did). I was trying to wait for her. I was happy when I came through the line – I could hear my mum shouting ‘Thank you Jesus! That’s my baby!’ My team mate came up and I said ‘where were you?’ I was furious. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ I asked her. Her coach wouldn’t let her come out on to the track until late on. She came fifth. it took me some years to process through and forgive him. I forgave him by faith: ‘it’s not my problem, it’s his problem’ I told myself. I refused to hold onto it any more – the Lord really took the pain away, and when I next saw him I didn’t feel anything. He was surprised that I spoke to him, and now we do speak.   It has helped to heal him – he is a better person because I walked in love toward him. MADELINE MANNING MIMS, N.D External links Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:Track and field athletes Category:Sportspeople from the United States Category:Women in sports Category:Women from the United States Category:African Americans Category:Women born in the 1940s