 Alex Coachman was raised in the segregated South, where she wasn't allowed to participate in public sports due to the color of her skin. Despite this, she used whatever materials she could find to develop as an athlete. By the time she reached high school in 1939, she was asked to join Tuskegee Institute's high school program, where she won national championships in the high jump and 50 meter dash. In the college program, she won the 50 and 100 meter, the 400 meter relay and the high jump. She was the only African American in each of the five All-American teams to which she was named. When Coachman got the chance to compete in the Olympics in the 1948 London Games, she set a high jump record and was personally presented the gold medal by King George VI. Coachman was the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Celebrating black history, I'm Megan Triplett.