A picture book biography about track star Alice Coachman starts with her childhood in Albany, Georgia, and ends with her on the medal podium at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, the only American woman to win track-and-field gold. In between, Alice faced many challenges, from a father who didn’t think it was ladylike to spend so much time running and jumping to homesickness when she went away to high school to the racism that was part of the reality of growing up Black. But Alice persevered. Her gold medal performance in the high jump was the end of a duel with another athlete that held the crowd mesmerized, and when Alice won, she’d set a new Olympic record. More about Alice Coachman and the 1948 London Olympics follow the informative and lively narrative about Alice’s life. (Ages 6–9)

Here is a story of Alice Coachman, the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal.

When Alice Coachman was a girl, most White people wouldn't even shake her hand. Yet when the King of England placed an Olympic medal around her neck in 1948, he extended his hand to Alice in congratulations. Standing on a podium in London's Wembley Stadium, Alice was a long way from the fields of Georgia where she ran barefoot as a child. With a record-breaking leap, she had become the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal. This inspirational picture book is perfect to celebrate Women's History Month or to share any day of the year.