Madeline Manning Mims : Track & Field

 American Star of the Women’s International Sports Hall of Fame

United States Council for Sports Chaplaincy

Madeline Manning Mims proved to the world during the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games that women have incredible resilience and endurance. She ran the 800- meter race in an Olympic record breaking time of 2:00.9 and won the gold medal. In 1968, women had not been afforded the liberties and equal treatment that Title IX later granted in 1972. The United States was in the throes of the civil rights movement and the 1968 Olympic Games will always be remembered with the image of black power raised against the backdrop of Olympic glory. As “The Star-Spangled Banner” played in the thin Mexico City air, Tommie Smith and John Carlos each raised a gloved fist into the air as they stood on the Olympic medal platform receiving the gold and bronze, respectively, for their performance in the 200-meter dash. It was a statement that shook the world of sport and definitely left an impression on the minds of the American public. In her quiet way, Manning Mims made a much louder statement supporting women and their abilities in sports. At that time, the 800-meter run was the longest distance women were allowed to run in the Olympic Games. African-American track athletes were stereotypically thought of as fast, sprint distance athletes. Manning Mims was the first African- American woman to win a distance race in the Olympics.

Her career did not begin in the same audacious way; it was a humble and challenging start. At the young, innocent age of three she was diagnosed with spinal meningitis. The doctors gave up on Madeline, but her mother’s determination and faith persevered. Madeline’s mother, Queen, promised that her daughter would serve God in her works and life, if he would save her life. Miraculously, Madeline improved the next day when the doctors visited her. The doctors pondered the medicine, but Queen simply trusted her faith and prayer. She explained to her daughter the promise that she had made on her behalf, and Madeline began on her journey.

Her dedication to God was starkly contrasted with her disobedience to the constraints of her illness. She was supposed to come in and stop playing when she started having symptoms to protect her health, but Manning Mims adapted and fought through the illness and returned to the activity, which strengthened her will and endurance. “I figured it out real quick, that if I got sick, don’t go in the house and tell mom because she’s going to put you to bed and call the doctor and he’s going to come with that needle,” Manning Mims said. “I would just go behind somewhere, throw up or do whatever I had to do, and come back and finish playing.”¹ Her resolve proved useful when she got older and participated in track and field in high school.

Growing up in the inner-city ghetto of Cleveland challenged Manning Mims and encouraged her to find a way out of the poverty. Running was the quickest way out. She could run quickly, but more important she could outlast the other girls. The Presidential Physical Fitness test was introduced to John Hay High School when she was in the 10th grade. Manning Mims was determined, but had never been outgoing by nature, so she did not participate in extracurricular activities. She tested off the charts for the fitness test and at the urging of her instructors she joined the track and field, basketball, and volleyball teams. She ran track for the Cleveland Division of Recreation in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championships and acquired her first taste of victory with the 440-yard run national title. Coaches marveled at her speed. No other girl had ever run the 440 that fast. She was the first in the world to run it in 55 seconds flat. At 16 years old her entire world changed when she was named to the U.S. national team to represent the country at track and field meets in Russia, Poland, and West Germany. Cleveland would never look the same, and while the city was her roots, her feet had given her wings.

One of the coaches enamored with Manning Mims’s talents was Ed Temple of Tennessee State University. He was so impressed with her that he offered her a full athletic scholarship to the university. Manning Mims never dreamed of college, but the world seemed to be opening its doors to her and new experiences awaited her. She accepted the scholarship and again applied her same resolute attitude to both her studies and her sport. One professor in particular changed the way she approached learning. At first, he seemed to play the part of the snooty, arrogant professor insulted by the ignorance of these college students and asked the class questions beyond the scope of their assigned reading. It frustrated the class, but Manning Mims accepted his challenge and her competitive nature went into overdrive. She prepared for each class by going the extra mile, and one day her endurance paid off. He asked one of his pompous questions, and Manning Mims demonstrated her knowledge of the subject with a magnificent oratory, including supporting resources. The professor was awe-struck and simply acquiesced to her, but he did take the time to use her as a pristine example to the class about going above and beyond expectations.

Her performance exceeded expectation on the track as well. The 800-meter run combines the best qualities of a sprint and of a distance run, which makes it especially challenging for an athlete to train for speed and endurance. Manning Mims seemed to be innately equipped with both aspects. Manning Mims’s freshman year, 1967, was record breaking. She first set the world record and won the AAU championship in the 880-yard run and later turned in an American record of 2:02.3 in the 800-meter run at the international Pan American Games. The next year was characterized by her Olympic gold and yet a faster 800-meter time of 2:00.9. Tennessee State’s Tigerbelles had a dominant presence in track and field and are highly regarded for their 34 national titles, 40 Olympians, and 23 Olympic medals. Manning Mims’s famed career was only a piece of that history, as the Tigerbelle story really began with Wilma Rudolph in the 1960 Rome Games becoming the first American woman to capture three gold medals in a single Olympics. 

Manning Mims’s performance eight years later at the 1968 Olympic Games changed the fate of a nation. She ran away from the competition during the 800-meter race and won with an impressive 10-meter lead over the competition. Sometimes it takes a pioneer to lead the way and demonstrate the possibility. Manning Mims was running after a goal and a dream that day, but she actually was changing the dream of many Nigerian women who saw a woman that resembled them running a long distance. A Nigerian leader later stopped Manning Mims to say, “You are the reason why our women run.”² Her career included numerous American records, indoor and outdoor national championship titles, three world indoor records, four Olympic teams, an Olympic gold and silver medal, a U.S. Olympic Trials title, a Pan American championship, and a World University Games title. She was also the first woman to break the two-minute barrier in the 800-meter run with a 1:57.9. Her accomplishments are staggering and she truly made a difference, but nothing compares to the work that she is doing today.

Manning Mims still has not slowed down years later, and is now vigorously pursuing her work with God. She has returned to the Olympic stage five more times as a volunteer sports chaplain since her own athletic career ended. She strives to offer solace, motivation, and provide understanding to athletes struggling with the pressures of their sport and traveling to an unknown land. She is also feverishly pursuing her master’s of divinity at Oral Roberts University and consequently planning her doctorate studies. She hopes to establish a curriculum and licensing requirements for sports chaplains so that the field will become indoctrinated and legitimate instead of volunteer based. Her own work as an ordained minister and passion for gospel singing has led her on several missionary trips. Her husband, Roderick Mims, shares her faith and supports her goodwill and outreach efforts. She has also shared some of her missionary trips with her daughter, Lana Mims. The mother-daughter bond is strengthened by their faith and by their passion for track and field. Lana is quickly following her mother’s famous footsteps, running the shorter sprint distances and competing in the jumps at the University of Missouri. Madeline’s son, John Jackson, also competed in track and field in the triple jump.

With the support of her family, Madeline Manning Mims is accomplishing her dreams of fulfilling her mother’s promise to God and her passion for sports by founding a governing body for sports chaplains. Through her experience as a sports chaplain she knows that there was little preparation before she stepped into that arena. The United States Council for Sports Chaplaincy will educate and outfit these chaplains so that they can fulfill their purpose and be certified as a professional with the teams rather than a volunteer. With Manning Mims leading the operation, the council will be running full speed in no time. Through her athletic career and now her outreach efforts, Manning Mims has demonstrated the infinite abilities of women to excel despite the barriers others construct in their paths. “Pioneers have lonely journeys, and they’re breaking barriers and myths that other people have not dared tread upon,”³ said Madeline Manning Mims.

 

Notes

1. Mike Organ. “Former Tigerbelle Used Endurance Well,” The Tennessean, February 20, 2008.

2. Jodie Valade, “Turning Gold into Inspiration.” Cleveland.com, January 21, 2008, http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2008/01/turning_gold_into_inspiration.html.

3. Mechelle Voepel, “Largest Percentage of Women in Olympic History to Compete,” Kansas City Star, August 10, 2004.

 

This excerpt was written by Stacy Martin-Tenney.