April, 2015 - Wilma Rudolph - Ginger-Mint Julep

Wilma Rudolph

Throughout her childhood, Wilma Rudolph battled various diseases and afflictions.  Born in 1940, Rudolph suffered from polio, scarlet fever, and double pneumonia.  She wore a leg brace on her right leg, and her doctors questioned whether she would ever walk.  By the age of 16, Rudolph was not only walking on her own, but also qualifying for the 1956 Olympics, where she won a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 meter relay.  She went on to win three gold medals in the 1960 Olympics in Rome:  the 100m, 200m, and 4 x 100 m relay (world record).  In 110-degree Rome heat, she ran the 100m dash in an astounding 11 seconds flat - but the time was not credited with a world record because it was wind-aided.

Rudolph was United Press Athlete of the Year 1960, and Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year for 1960 and 1961.  Also in 1961, the year of her father's death, Rudolph won the James E. Sullivan Award, an award for the top amateur athlete in the United States.  She was voted into the National Black Sports and Entertainment Hall of Fame in 1973, and the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1974.  She was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983, honored with the National Sports Award in 1993.  After retiring, Rudolph held a variety of coaching positions, yet spent most of her time strengthening her community and fighting for human rights.  She died in 1994 of brain cancer; she was only 54 years old.  Since 1997, her home state of Tennessee celebrates Wilma Rudolph Day every June 23rd.

The Drink:

Ginger-Mint Julep

3/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 2-inch piece ginger, thinly sliced
1/2 cup bourbon
1 1/2 cups mint sprigs
crushed ice

*makes 6 drinks  (combine water, sugar, and ginger in saucepan and bring to boil, stir until dissolved.  Cover and simmer 5 minutes.  Cool and strain, discard ginger.  Divide mint among 6 tall glasses, add 2 Tbsp ginger syrup each, muddle wint mint, divide bourbon and then top with crushed ice.

Drinkability:  3
Drunkability:  3
Taxic Diversity:  3
Accessibility:  4
Priority for Conservation:  2/3

Comments:  "A sipper, but some say it's too sweet."

From "Women Track Stars" hosted by Montana Prairie Fire