Mildrette Netter (born June 16, 1948, in Rosedale,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

) is an American

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

who competed mainly in the 100 meters. She competed for the United States in the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

held in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in the 4 × 100 meters where she won the gold medal with her teammates Barbara Ferrell, Margaret Bailes, and

Wyomia Tyus Wyomia Tyus (pronunciation: ''why-o-mi''; born August 29, 1945) is a retired American track and field sprinter, and the first person to retain the Olympic title in the 100 m (a feat since duplicated by Carl Lewis, Gail Devers, Shelly-Ann Frase ...

. The relay Netter was a part of set the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

with a time of 42.88. Netter also competed in the 1972 Olympics. She grew up in

Rosedale, Mississippi Rosedale is a city and one of two county seats of Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States, the other seat being Cleveland. The Rosedale population was 1,873 at the 2010 census, down from 2,414 in 2000. Located in an agricultural area, the c ...

. She was short. She became the first female Olympic medalist from Mississippi. There were no women's track programs in Mississippi when she graduated from high school and she was denied a scholarship to Tennessee State. After her gold medal win, Alcorn State established a women's track tram, the first in Mississippi. She married fellow Alcorn alumnus Willy White, Vietnam War veteran. She is a member of the Rosedale-West Bolivar High School Hall of Fame. The track and field at Alcorn was renamed for her. She is in the Alcorn State Hall of Honor, SWAC Hall of Fame, Alcorn State Athletic Hall of Fame, the Clarksdale/Coahoma Sports Hall of Fame, Bob Hayes Track Hall of Fame, and Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

References

*
Mildrette Netter Graves
at Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame * 1948 births Living people Sportspeople from Greenville, Mississippi Track and field athletes from Mississippi American female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic female sprinters 20th-century American sportswomen {{US-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub