Tidye Pickett
Tidye Pickett-Phillips[1] (November 3, 1914 – November 17, 1986) was an American track and field athlete. She represented the United States in the 80-meter hurdles at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, becoming the first African-American woman to compete in the Olympic Games.
Biography
Tidye Pickett was born in Chicago, Illinois on November 3, 1914, and grew up in Englewood, a Chicago neighborhood.[2][3]:43 She took up running as a schoolgirl; after competing in some local meets she caught the attention of long jumper John Brooks, who began to coach her.[3]:43,44 At the 1932 United States Olympic Trials Pickett competed in the 100-meter dash, winning her heat and placing third in her semi-final; she qualified for the final, where she placed sixth.[4]:77[5]:183–184 Pickett was named to the American Olympic team as part of the eight-woman 4 × 100 meter relay pool; she and Louise Stokes, who was also part of the relay pool, were the first African-American women to be selected for the Olympic Games,[6] but both of them were left out of the final four-woman relay lineup that ran at the Olympics.[7][8] Pickett and Stokes suffered racial discrimination during their Olympic trip;[6] whether racism also played a role in their omission from the Olympic relay is disputed and unclear.[7][8]
Pickett continued her running career; in 1934 she ran the opening leg on a Chicago Park District team that set an unofficial world record of 48.6 in the 4 × 110 yard relay.[2][9]:294 At the 1936 United States Olympic Trials she competed in the 80-meter hurdles, placing second and qualifying for the Olympics in Berlin.[4]:86 At the Olympics, Pickett survived the heats but went out in the semi-finals, falling at the second hurdle and injuring herself;[5]:227[4]:86 she was the first African-American woman, as well as the first Illinois State University athlete, to compete in the Olympic Games.[4]:86[10]
Pickett later became a schoolteacher, serving as principal at an elementary school in East Chicago Heights until her retirement in 1980; when she retired, the school was renamed after her.[6] She died in Chicago Heights, Illinois on November 17, 1986.[2]
References
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- Pages with reference errors
- 1914 births
- 1986 deaths
- Sportspeople from Chicago, Illinois
- American sprinters
- American hurdlers
- Female sprinters
- Female hurdlers
- African-American female track and field athletes
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics
- Olympic track and field athletes of the United States
- African-American schoolteachers
