Stephens, nicknamed the "Fulton Flash" after her birthplace,Fulton, Missouri, was a strong athlete in sprint events—she never lost a race in her entire career—and also in weight events such as theshot put anddiscus throw. She won national titles in both categories.
When she was 18, Stephens participated in the1936 Summer Olympics. There she won the100 m final, beating reigning champion andworld record holder,Stanisława Walasiewicz (aka Stella Walsh) ofPoland.[2][3] Stephen's time of 11.5 s was below theworld record, but was not recognized because a strong tailwind was blowing at the time of the race. Next, Stephens anchored the American4 × 100 m relay team that won the Olympic title after the leadingGerman team dropped its baton.
Stephens is quoted by Olympic historian, David Wallechinsky, about her post-race experience withAdolf Hitler.[3] "He comes in and gives me the Nazi salute. I gave him a good, old-fashioned Missouri handshake," she said. "Once more Hitler goes for the jugular vein. He gets hold of my fanny and begins to squeeze and pinch, and hug me up. And he said: 'You're a true Aryan type. You should be running for Germany.' So after he gave me the once over and a full massage, he asked me if I'd like to spend the weekend in Berchtesgaden." Stephens refused.[3][4]
Stephens retired from athletics shortly after the games and played professionalbaseball andsoftball. She attendedWilliam Woods University, Fulton High School, and Middle River School in Fulton. She was later inducted into theWilliam Woods Owls Hall of Fame, described as "the most well-known athlete in Fulton’s history."[5] From 1938 to 1952, she was the owner and manager of her own semi-professionalbasketball team; she was the first woman to own and manage a semi-professional basketball team.[6] She was employed for many years in the Research Division of the U.S. Aeronautical Chart and Information Service (later, a part of theDefense Mapping Agency) inSt. Louis, Missouri.
At the 1936 Olympics, it was suggested that both Stephens andStanisława Walasiewicz were, in fact, male.[11] Stephens received scrutiny over her gender after 100 m victory, with theWarsaw-based newspaper Kurier Poranny writing, "It is scandalous that the Americans entered a man in the women's competition."[12] Other newspapers soon also reported on Stephens alleged lack of femininity. Stephens later told her biographer that she told reporters who questioned her about her gender "to check the facts with the Olympic committee physician who sex-tested all athletes prior to competition."[13]
Newspapers soon reported that German officials had given Stephens a so-called sex test and let her compete only after they had confirmed she was a woman.[14] TheHarrisbug Telegraph reported thatInternational Olympic Committee performed a physical check on Stephens and concluded that she was a woman.[15] These reports were denied by IOC committee memberAvery Brundage and no further evidence surfaced. In 1938,Paul Gallico in his bookFarewell to Sport suggested that American sports officials had examined Stephens prior to the Olympic games.[16] On August 28, following the Olympics but before returning to New York, Stephens wrote in her diary that she was inspected by American officials.[17]
^"Polish Writer Calls Helen Stephens 'Man,'"Los Angeles Times, 6 August 1936, quoted in Michael Waters,The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024), 214.
^Sharon Hanson,The Life of Helen Stephens (Southern Illinois University Press, 2004), 96, quoted in Michael Waters,The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024), 215.
^Waters, Michael (2024).The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 215.
^Waters, Michael (2024).The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 216.ISBN978-0374609818.
^Waters, Michael (2024).The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 234.
