Aertwentha Mae Faggs was the first in a long line of female track stars to study under Tennessee State University Coach Ed Temple and attain international acclaim in the Olympics. Called “The First Lady of Track,” Faggs earned the distinction of being the first U.S. female to participate in three Olympiads (1948, 1952, and 1956).
In 1952, Faggs, at age twenty, won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the U.S. 400-meter relay team. She then became the first athlete recruited by Coach Temple to join the Tennessee State University women’s track team that in the same year first became known as the Tigerbelles. Faggs was credited by Coach Temple with being the “mother of the Tigerbelles” and the athlete who “put the Tigerbelles on the map.” Faggs recorded six victories in the 220-meter dash between 1949 and 1956.
In 1954, 1955, and 1956, she won the AAU 200-meter dash and was designated an All-American by that organization. In 1956 she won a bronze medal in the Olympics as a member of the all-Tigerbelle 400-meter relay team.
In her own words, “We felt that we were the best. It wasn’t cockiness, it was confidence. We trained hard and believed that we were the best.” A teacher for more than forty years, Mae Faggs Starr undoubtedly passed on this confidence, developed on the track at TSU and displayed in her Olympic victories, to several generations of students who are now champions in life’s arena.