Madeline Manning

Madeline Manning-Mims, née Madeline Manning, is a former American runner and Olympic champion. Between 1967 and 1981 she won ten national titles and set a number of American records. She participated in the 1968, 1972, and 1976 Summer Olympics. She likely also would have participated in the 1980 Games in Moscow, had they not been boycotted by the United States. At the 1968 Olympics she won a gold medal in the 800 m, one of only two American women to win this event. Until 2008, she was the youngest winner of the event. At the 1972 Games in Munich she won a silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay with teammates Mable Fergerson, Kathy Hammond, and Cheryl Toussaint. When she was three years old, she was diagnosed with spinal meningitis and not expected to live. She recovered, but was consistently sick until she was a teen.