TSU Tigerbelles

Tennessee State University was founded in 1912, and is the only public, historically Black university in Tennessee. There are many notable alumni including media mogul Oprah Winfrey, but there is no group more accomplished than the women known as the TSU Tigerbelles. They have quite a track record, literally.

Between 1952 and 1984 a total of 40 Tigerbelles competed in the Olympics. During this time, they also won 34 national track championships and 30 Pan American medals. At the Olympics they won big with 23 medals, 16 of them gold. It all began in 1952 when Mae Faggs and Barbara Jones medaled at the Olympics in Helsinki. The 5-foot-1 Mae Faggs was only 20 years old when she won gold, but Temple called her the “Mother of the Tigerbelles.” In 1960, the New York Times declared TSU "the cathedral of women’s track.”

Walk around Olympic Plaza as we highlight more of these trailblazing athletes. Edith McGuire won three medals at the 1964 Olympics, while her teammate Madeline Manning won ten national titles, set numerous American records, and competed in three Olympiads. In 1968, Manning claimed gold in the 800-meter. She was the first and only American to win this event until Athing Mu, from Trenton, New Jersey, captured gold at the 2021 Tokyo Games.

But it was Wilma Rudolph who became a national hero. From polio-survivor to the “fastest woman in the world,” Rudolph won an unprecedented three gold medals at the 1960 Olympics. You can hear the full story of Wilma Rudolph’s amazing life on our tour stop for Clarksville’s Liberty Park.

Chandra Cheeseborough was the last of the Tigerbelle Olympians. At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, she won two gold medals—in less than an hour! Chandra won gold as part of the 4x100 relay and then anchored the 4x400 relay, setting a new Olympic Record. In 1994, at the behest of her mentor, Wilma Rudolph, Chandra applied and was hired as TSU’s head coach after Ed Temple’s retirement. Nicknamed “Coach Cheese,” she returned to the Olympics in 2008 as an assistant coach for Team USA, and in 2011 she was named TSU’s Director of Track & Field for men and women.

Dedicated in 2005 and standing 46-feet tall, this statue honors all of the school’s Olympians. Take our Tennessee State University walking tour and Jefferson Street driving tour to learn more about this historic university.

Follow the drive back to Dr. Walter S. Davis Blvd. Turn RIGHT on Ed Temple Blvd, which will become 28th Avenue North. Cross Charlotte Avenue, then turn LEFT onto Park Plaza. Look to your right as you drive along the northern edge of Centennial Park and see the replica Parthenon sitting in the center. The park was the site of the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition and the Parthenon—a nod to Nashville’s nickname “Athens of the South”—served as the Fine Arts Building. Turn RIGHT on 25th Ave N and Centennial Sportsplex will be on your left. Once you enter the sportsplex, the Tracy Caulkins trophy exhibit is just behind the customer service desk and the Tracy Caulkins Competition Pool is through the doors to your right.