1999 Inductee

Mae Faggs Starr

Aertwentha Mae Faggs, a native of Bayside, N.Y., has been called "The First Lady of Track." She earned the distinction of being the first U.S. female to ever participate in three different Olympiads (1948, 1952 and 1956).

At 20 years old and already a veteran of two Olympics, Faggs became the first athlete recruited by legendary Tennessee State University women's track coach, Edward S. Temple. The year was 1952--the first year the school's women's track team was known as the Tigerbelles. Faggs had won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the 4 x 100-meter relay team that same year.

Faggs recorded six victories in the 220-meter dash between 1949 and 1956. A member of the AAU All-American women's track and field team from 1954 to 1956, she won the AAU 200-meter dash in 1954, 1955 and 1956. She won a bronze medal in the 1956 Olympics as a member of the all-Tigerbelle 4 x 100 relay team.

In addition to her numerous honors and awards, Faggs is credited by Temple as being the "mother of the Tigerbelles," and being the athlete who "put the Tigerbelles on the map."

Of her days as a Tigerbelle and Olympian, Faggs has said, "We felt that we were the best. It wasn't cockiness, it was confidence. We trained hard and believed that we were the best."

Mae Faggs Starr is currently retired after devoting more than 40 years to her career as a teacher.