McDaniel, Mildred (1933—)

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McDaniel, Mildred (1933—)

African-American track and field star . Born Mildred Louise McDaniel in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 4, 1933.

Was AAU national high jump champion (1953, 1955, and 1956); won the high jump title in the Pan American Games (1955); won the Olympic gold medal in high jump in Melbourne Olympics (1956), setting a world record with a jump of 5'9¼ ", and also won the bronze in the 4x100-meter relay.

Mildred McDaniel did not consider herself an athlete when she was a student at David Howard High School in Atlanta, Georgia. She took gym because it was required, and would shoot baskets while waiting for class to start. But her gym teacher arrived early one day, and after watching her play, invited McDaniel to try out for the basketball team. Mildred refused, but her teacher was adamant: "Any girl who can shoot ten straight foul shots will get her sneakers tomorrow and will be a member of the team." McDaniel soon became a major player with teammates Mary McNabb and Margaret Matthews , who would also become Olympic track-and-field champions.

Students at David Howard generally went out for track and field when the basketball season was over, but McDaniel was reluctant. When her coach advised her to watch the other athletes and decide if a particular track-and-field event interested her, McDaniel became intrigued with high jumping and tried out for that event. Soon she was high jumping, running the hurdles, broad jumping, and had become a member of the relay team. When she graduated from high school, McDaniel received a scholarship to Tuskegee Institute, where she trained under Coach Cleveland Abbott and became the high-jump champion in the outdoor AAU meet in 1953. In 1955 and 1956, she was indoor and outdoor AAU champion in the high jump. Although she had a sore heel in the 1955 Pan American Games, she won the title in the high jump. McDaniel qualified for the 1956 Olympics with a jump of 5'4". At that time, her best jump was 5'6½".

In Melbourne, McDaniel was not considered a contender. "At the bottom of the news story it said, 'They might have a little trouble with Mildred McDaniel of the United States,' and that's the way I wanted it," she said. "If the girls know you can jump a certain height, they are always watching. So I was going to let them watch each other, and I was going to win the event. But my plan backfired on me because I was named first up to jump." Although several international competitors had jumped 5'8" in previous competitions, they failed to match their earlier records in Melbourne. At the end of the day, officials reckoned the competition was all but over as the time neared for McDaniel's final jump. As she came on the field, she heard one official say to another, "Well, we might as well pack up, she can't go any higher."

But McDaniel surprised the officials and delighted 100,000 spectators by asking that the bar be raised to 5'9¼"—an inch over the world record and two inches over her highest jump. She missed the first time, but on her second jump she flung herself over the pole, winning the gold with 5'9¼¼", and beating Great Britain's Thelma Hopkins and the Soviet Union's Mariya Pisareva , who tied for the silver with jumps of 5'5". She had also beaten the future world-record holder, Iolanda Balas of Rumania. McDaniel's record remained unbroken for two years.