Madeline Manning Mims (born January 11, 1948) 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. (To date, the other was Athing Mu who won gold in the 2020 Olympics.) 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.[1] 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.[2]

Madeline Manning
Manning at the 1968 Olympics
Personal information
Full nameMadeline Manning-Jackson
Madeline Manning Mims
Born (1948-01-11) January 11, 1948 (age 76)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Height5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight165 lb (75 kg)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event400–1500 m
ClubMidland RockHounds
Columbus Track Club
Cleveland Track Club
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)400 m – 52.2 (1972)
800 m – 1:57.90 (1976)
1500 m – 4:14.04 (1980)
Mile – 4:54.4 (1975)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1968 Mexico City 800 m
Silver medal – second place 1972 Munich 4×400 m
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1967 Winnipeg 800 m
Summer Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1967 Tokyo 800 m

In 1965, while she was a student at John Hay High School in Cleveland, she won her first national title in the 440-yard run at the girls' AAU championships. She was named to the U.S. team that competed in meets against West Germany, the USSR and Poland.[2] From 1967 to 1980, Manning-Mims won 10 national indoor and outdoor titles.[2]

Manning is a graduate of Tennessee State University and a famed member of their TigerBelles. In 1984 she was inducted into the United States National Track and Field Hall of Fame.[2]

Manning is founder and president of the United States Council for Sports Chaplaincy and has been a chaplain at the 1988 Seoul, 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens, and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. She also has a ministry through sports and the arts known as Ambassadorship, Inc.[3] She is also an author, speaker and contemporary gospel recording artist, who was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 2005.[4] She is currently[when?] studying for a Master of Divinity degree at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is one of the chaplains of the Tulsa Shock of the WNBA.[5]

She competed through the mid 1970s under the hyphenated name of Madeline Manning-Jackson.[6] She married John Jackson in 1969 but divorced him by 1970. Her son from that marriage, John Jackson III was the NCAA Triple Jump champion while competing at the University of Oklahoma. After briefly retiring from the sport, she returned running with anger and frustration, to the point that her coach had to train her separately from other athletes on her team and had to ask her to slow down.[7]

In 1976, Jackson released the gospel soul album Madeline: Running for Jesus with NewPax.

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Madeline Manning-Jackson". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Madeline Manning (Mims). National Track and Field Hall of Fame
  3. ^ "Greater Cleveland: The Salvation Army, 40 year anniversary Invitation". Archived from the original on February 16, 2009.
  4. ^ "2005 Inductees, Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame website (accessed August 3, 2010).
  5. ^ Lynn Jacobsen, "Then and now: Ex-Olympian Madeline Manning Mims gives back by ministering to athletes", Tulsa World, August 3, 2010.
  6. ^ Nathan Aaseng (May 14, 2014). African-American Athletes. Infobase Publishing. pp. 110–. ISBN 978-1-4381-0778-3.
  7. ^ Debbie Hanson (2008) Madeline Manning Mims. clevelandwomen.com
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  Media related to Madeline Manning at Wikimedia Commons

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