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 and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
Choate Rosemary Hall
Choate Rosemary Hall (often known as Choate; ) is a Independent school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational, College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Choate is currently ...
) in Connecticut. After graduating from Rosemary Hall, Batson enrolled at
Smith College
Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's c ...
.
Career
At Rosemary Hall, Batson learned hurdling as well as playing
field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shootin ...
and
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
. 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 , a cl ...
. 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, ...
.''
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.