Florieda Burton Batson Gibbens (November 20, 1900 – January 31, 1996) was an American

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

and captain of the United States team at the Women's Olympics in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1922.

Early life and education

Batson was born in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, the youngest of three children born to Robert Percy Batson, a successful businessman born in Barbados, and his wife Florieda Burton Batson. Mrs. Batson died when Florieda was 3, and Florieda's two older brothers died in accidents. Mr. Batson sent Florieda to live with relatives in Alabama and New York, and she attended Rosemary Hall Academy (later

Choate Rosemary Hall Choate Rosemary Hall ( ) is a Independent school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational, College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1890, it took its present na ...

) in Connecticut. After graduating from Rosemary Hall, Batson enrolled at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

Career

At Rosemary Hall, Batson learned hurdling as well as playing

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. She quickly became the leading American short-distance female hurdler; Batson was undefeated between 1919 and 1921 and set U.S. records in the 60-yard high hurdles (9.0 seconds) and the 100-yard low hurdles (14.4 seconds). In 1922, Batson was invited to join the team of 13 American women attending the 1922 Women's Olympics, an event organized by French women's athletics pioneer

Alice Milliat Alice Joséphine Marie Milliat née Million (5 May 1884 – 19 May 1957) was a pioneer of women's sport. Her lobbying on behalf of female athletes led to the accelerated inclusion of more women's events in the Olympic Games. A member of Fémi ...

. The team, mostly consisting of East Coast prep school and college students like Batson, chose her as captain. A diagram of all her physical measurements was published in the '' Daily News'', describing her as having "proportions closely approaching perfection." At the Paris games, Batson sprained her left ankle when she hit a hurdle during the team's first practice. She won her qualifying heat, but failed to finish the final when her injured ankle caused her to fall. After the Women's Olympics, Batson returned to New Orleans, where she was hired to edit the sports page of the ''

New Orleans Item The ''New Orleans Item-Tribune'', sometimes rendered in press accounts as the ''New Orleans Item and Tribune'', was an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, in various forms from 1871 to 1958. Early history The newspaper, r ...

.''

Personal life

Batson married local businessman William Joseph Gibbens, Jr. in 1924. The couple had two daughters, Patricia and Jean. Her husband died in 1976. When Florieda Batson Gibbens died in 1996, she was survived by 11 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Batson, Florieda 1900 births 1996 deaths American female hurdlers Track and field athletes from New Orleans Choate Rosemary Hall alumni Smith College alumni 20th-century American sportswomen