From Braces to the Finish Line: The incredible story of Wilma Rudolph Born in 1940 in Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee, Wilma was the 20th of 22 children. She was born prematurely and spent much of her childhood battling one illness after another, including double pneumonia and scarlet fever. The biggest blow came at age four when she contracted polio. The disease paralysed her left leg and curved her foot inward. Doctors told her mother she would never walk without a brace. ​For years, Wilma wore a heavy metal leg brace. But her family...