Historically black colleges and universities hold a distinguished place in the history of American track and field, and one of the culture’s most accomplished ambassadors is being inducted in the nation’s Olympic Hall of Fame. Tennessee State University track and field coaching legend Ed Temple was among the inductees recently announced by the HOF committee, and will be enshrined on July 12 in Chicago.

A 1950 graduate of Tennessee State University, Coach Edward Stanley Temple served as head women’s track coach 
at Tennessee State University from 1953 to 1994 and became one of the greatest coaches in Olympic history. He helped establish the U.S. as a women’s sprinting powerhouse and served as head coach of two U.S. Olympic teams (1960 and 1964), during which time his athletes brought home 23 Olympic medals (13 gold, six silver and four bronze).

Temple’s 44-year coaching tenure at Tennessee State University saw him coach and mentor some of the greatest athletes in Olympic history, including Wyomia Tyus, Wilma Rudolph and Willie White. Rudolph was the first American woman of any race to win three track & field gold medals at a single Olympic Games, while Tyus was the first woman to successfully defend an Olympic 100-meter gold medal.

For Temple’s athletes, a gold medal was only the start. The impact Temple had on his young female athletes stretched far beyond the track. Among the 40 Olympians he coached (35 of whom represented the U.S.), 28 of them have master’s degrees and 14 of them have either an M.D. or Ph.D.

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TSU Coaching Legend Selected for Olympic Hall of Fame | Tennessee State University Newsroom