The Spirit of Wilma Rudolph-The Spirit of America Virtual Cache
The Spirit of Wilma Rudolph-The Spirit of America
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(virtual)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
DO NOT POST PHOTOS OF WILMA'S STATUE ON YOUR LOG.
(permission granted from Clarksville Parks & Recreation to place the cache at this location)
Wilma Rudolph contracted polio at the age of four. Her parents were told their daughter would never walk normally. She couldn’t attend school until she obtained a leg brace from Meharry Hospital in Nashville. Wilma missed first grade altogether and began school the next year as a second grader. For four years, Wilma wore the leg brace that slowly straightened her leg. All the while she endured taunts and jeers from some of those around her. During fifth grade, the leg brace was removed. Her leg was straight and usable again.
Wilma loved sports. Her Burt School basketball team played in the East Tennessee Conference Championship. In the gym that day was the Olympic track coach Ed Temple. For two years he kept an eye on the fast girl from Clarksville, TN. At the age of sixteen, fresh out of high school, Wilma joined the U.S. Ladies Olympic Track Team in Australia. Finishing with a bronze medal, she was determined to return to the Olympics four years later.
Unfortunately for Wilma, she sprained her left ankle before the semi finals. Unfortunately for the women from other countries, Wilma stayed strong and competed while injured. She ran and won three gold medals, a feat NO woman had ever accomplished in Olympic history. She did it in spite of childhood polio and having a sprained ankle.
Wilma died in 1994. But, here spirit lives on. Her grave is at 1364 Paradise Hill Road, Clarksville, TN, beside the Mason Rudolph Golf Course (no relation). Her tombstone is an unusual shape.
The yellow lines were added for effect and to show the five lines you will look for in Wilma's statue.
To get credit for this cache you must:
1) Visit Wilma’s life-sized statue at the coordinates. DO NOT POST PHOTOS OF THE STATUE WITH YOUR LOG ! !
2) Post a photo to the log showing you are at the Wilma Rudolph Pavilion.
3) Email *ME* a picture of you pointing to the part of the statue that was used to inspire Wilma’s gravestone shape - BE SPECIFIC
If you’d like, please share in you log as to why you are in Clarksville. Visiting? Military? Live here? Lost? No “Virtual Claims” or “Internet Finds” will be allowed.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ivrjvat sebz gur pheo *znl* uryc.