Willye White, a five-time Olympian in track and field known as the "Queen of Chicago Sport", passed away Tuesday, February 6. White was born December 31, 1939 in Greenwood, Mississippi. She discovered her talent for running and jumping at age 10. At the age of 16 in 1956, she attended a Tennessee State University track and field summer camp. Four months later, she successfully qualified for the United States Olympic track team and competed in Melbourne, where she won an Olympic silver medal in the Long Jump. Over the next 20 years, White competed in four more Olympics: Rome in 1960, Tokyo in 1964, Mexico City in 1968 and finally, Montreal in 1976.
When White’s competitive career ended in 1976, she became a community activist on the South Side of Chicago and continued her athletic involvement as a track and field coach. The Willye White Foundation helped children to develop self-esteem and become productive citizens through such initiatives as the Robert Taylor Girls Athletic Program. She ran for alderman of the 6th ward in Chicago in 2003.
Her achievements in sport and service have been recognized extenstively. She became the first American woman to receive the UNESCO Pierre de Coubertin Fair Play trophy in 1965. She is a member of eleven sport halls of fame, including those of the National Association of Sport and Physical Education, Black Sports, Women Sports Foundation, and National Track and Field. She was chosen by Sports Illustrated for Women in 1999 as one of the 100 greatest athletes of the century and by Ebony in 2002 as one of the ten greatest black female athletes.