Unbeatable Betty: Betty Robinson, the First Female Olympic Track & Field Gold Medalist

Long before Wilma Rudolph or Florence Griffith Joyner, there was Betty Robinson, the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field. Born in Riverdale, IL, in 1911, she was only 16 when she won the gold in Amsterdam for the 100-yard dash. America celebrated their smiling "Golden Girl" with parades and accolades, but while training for the 1932 Olympics, a biplane crash left the athlete in a coma with a crushed left leg. Even after she began to heal, one leg was shorter than the other, and the doctors said she would never walk again. The gold medalist was determined not only to walk but to run again. She eventually competed in the 1936 Olympics and won another gold with her relay team, defeating the confident German team the same year that Jesse Owens won four gold medals. The digital illustrations reflect the clothing and technology of the period. One particularly poignant spread shows the injured athlete pushing herself to stand from her wheelchair, use crutches, a cane, and then finally her own two legs to run. Another shows Robinson and her teammates looking apprehensively at their German counterparts with the Nazi flag waving in the foreground. VERDICT A great choice for women's history lesson plans, gym teachers, or to teach the character trait of determination. Pair with Kathleen Krull's Wilma Unlimited or Pat Zietlow Miller's The Quickest Kid in Clarksville for a dashing good time.—Barbara Auerbach, Cairo Public Library, NY