 Manning at the 1968 Olympics | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Madeline Manning-Jackson Madeline Manning Mims |
| Born | (1948-01-11)January 11, 1948 (age 77) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) |
| Weight | 165 lb (75 kg) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event | 400–1500 m |
| Club | Midland RockHounds Columbus Track Club Cleveland Track Club |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personalbest(s) | 400 m – 52.2 (1972) 800 m – 1:57.90 (1976) 1500 m – 4:14.04 (1980) Mile – 4:54.4 (1975) |
Madeline Manning Mims (born January 11, 1948) is a former American runner and Olympic champion. Between 1967 and 1981 she won ten national titles and set a number of American records. She participated in the1968,1972, and1976 Summer Olympics. She likely also would have participated in the1980 Games inMoscow, had they not beenboycotted by the United States. At the 1968 Olympics she won agold medal in the800 m, one of only two American women to win this event. (To date, the other wasAthing Mu who won gold in the2020 Olympics.) Until 2008, she was the youngest winner of the event. At the 1972 Games inMunich she won asilver medal in the4 × 400 m relay with teammatesMable Fergerson,Kathy Hammond, andCheryl Toussaint.[1]When she was three years old, she was diagnosed with spinal meningitis and not expected to live. She recovered, but was consistently sick until she was a teen.[2]
In 1965, while she was a student at John Hay High School in Cleveland, she won her first national title in the 440-yard run at the girls' AAU championships. She was named to the U.S. team that competed in meets against West Germany, the USSR and Poland.[2] From 1967 to 1980, Manning-Mims won 10 national indoor and outdoor titles.[2]
Manning is a graduate ofTennessee State University and a famed member of their TigerBelles. In 1984 she was inducted into the United StatesNational Track and Field Hall of Fame.[2]
Manning is founder and president of the United States Council for Sports Chaplaincy and has been a chaplain at the 1988 Seoul, 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens, and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. She also has a ministry through sports and the arts known as Ambassadorship, Inc.[3] She is also an author, speaker and contemporary gospel recording artist, who was inducted into theOklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 2005.[4] She is currently[when?] studying for aMaster of Divinity degree atOral Roberts University inTulsa, Oklahoma, and is one of the chaplains of theTulsa Shock of theWNBA.[5]
She competed through the mid 1970s under the hyphenated name of Madeline Manning-Jackson.[6] She married John Jackson in 1969 but divorced him by 1970. Her son from that marriage, John Jackson III was the NCAA Triple Jump champion while competing at theUniversity of Oklahoma. After briefly retiring from the sport, she returned running with anger and frustration, to the point that her coach had to train her separately from other athletes on her team and had to ask her to slow down.[7]
In 1976, Jackson released the gospel soul album Madeline: Running for Jesus withNewPax.
Media related toMadeline Manning at Wikimedia Commons
