An Olympic medalist in track at the 1968 Games in Mexico City, Madeline Manning Mims became the only American woman to win Gold in the 800 meter for more than 50 years. In addition to setting Olympic and World records, she was the first American woman to break the two-minute barrier in the 800 meter. She earned Silver in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany as a member of the 4x400 meter relay team, was the 1975 Pan American Champion, and won the 400 meter in the 1966 World University Games. A member of four Olympic teams for the USA, her international career spanned 16 years and included ten national titles and a number of American records. Mims opened the global door for women of color to participate in distance running.

Following retirement, she founded and continues to serve as president of the United States Council for Sports Chaplaincy. She served as chaplain for nine Olympic Games, six years as chaplain for the WNBA’s Tulsa Shock, and has shared her personal testimony with the White House and on the steps of the Nation’s capital in response to the presidential address to the Olympians and the American people in 1980, the year the U.S. boycotted the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow.

Mims has been inducted to the Olympic Hall of Fame, was recognized as an Olympic Legend at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and is featured in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.