|
|
Article: Vonetta Flowers as good as gold: former track star is the first Black person to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Ebony
- Article date:
- May 1, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Johnson Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
IN 1 minute and 37.76 seconds, Vonetta Flowers' life changed forever. The 28-year-old assistant track and field coach at the University of Alabama-Birmingham entered the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City as an unsung hopeful. But in less than 2 minutes, she made history as the first Black person to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.
"My heart just dropped," said Flowers after her triumph as a member of the two-person women's bobsled team. "I thought I was dreaming. Tears started to shed ... My dream had come true, to win a gold medal."
The route that Flowers took to get that Olympic gold medal had as many twists and turns as a bobsled run. ...