Theodora Anne PICKETT

By running in the 80 metre hurdles at the 1936 Olympic Games, Tidye Pickett became the first African-American woman to represent the United States at the Olympic Games. She had been an alternate at the 1932 Olympics but did not compete. She competed for the Chicago Park District, and Englewood High School, and then attended Illinois State University, which had no women's sports at the time. In 1934 Pickett ran on a world-record setting 4×110 yard relay team. She later became an educator and served for 23 years as principal of the District 169 elementary school in Ford Heights, Illinois. After her retirement the school was renamed the Tidye A. Phillips Elementary School.

Personal Best: 80H – 12.1 (1936).