Alice Coachman

Alice Marie Coachman Davis was an American athlete, born on 9 November 1923 and died on 14 July 2014. She specialized in the high jump and was the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal, a landmark in the history of the Olympic movement and of women's athletics. Her achievement opened the Olympic podium to black women at a time when sport in the United States was still deeply segregated, and she remains one of the best known names in American track and field history.