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Tyus, from Tennessee State University, participated in the 1964 Summer Olympics at age 19. In the heats of the event, she equalled Wilma Rudolph's World Record, propelling her to a favourite for the final, where her main rival would be fellow American Edith McGuire. Tyus won the final, beating McGuire by two tenths. At the same Olympics, she also won a silver medal with the 4 x 100 m relay team, finishing only behind Poland.
The following years, Tyus won numerous national championships in the sprint events, and a gold medal in the 200 m at the Pan-American Games. In 1968, she returned to the Olympics to defend her title in the 100 m. In the final, she set a new World Record to become the first woman to retain the Olympic 100 m title. Tyus also qualified for the 200 m final, in which she finished sixth. Running the final leg for the relay team, Tyus helped setting a new World Record, winning her third gold medal.
Tyus retired from sports after the 1968 Olympics.
| Olympic medalists in athletics (women) | Olympic Champions in Women's 100 m |
| Betty Robinson | Stanislawa Walasiewicz | Helen Stephens | Fanny Blankers-Koen | Marjorie Jackson | Betty Cuthbert | Wilma Rudolph | Wyomia Tyus | Renate Stecher | Annegret Richter | Lyudmila Kondratyeva | Evelyn Ashford | Florence Griffith Joyner | Gail Devers | Marion Jones | Yulia Nesterenko |
| Olympic medalists in athletics (women) | Olympic Champions in Women's 4x100 m relay |
| 1928 Canada Fanny Rosenfeld, Ethel Smith , Florence Bell & Myrtle Cook 1932 United States Mary Carew , Evelyn Furtsch , Annette Rogers & Wilhelmina Von Bremen 1936 United States Harriet Bland , Annette Rogers , Betty Robinson & Helen Stephens 1948 Netherlands Xenia Stad-de Jong, Netty Witziers-Timmer, Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs & Fanny Blankers-Koen 1952 United States Mae Faggs , Barbara Jones , Janet Moreau & Catherine Hardy 1956 Australia Shirley Strickland, Norma Croker , Fleur Mellor & Betty Cuthbert 1960 United States Martha Hudson , Lucinda Williams , Barbara Jones & Wilma Rudolph 1964 Poland Teresa Wieczorek , Irena Kirszenstein, Halina Richter & Ewa Klobukowska 1968 United States Barbara Ferrell , Margaret Bailes , Mildrette Netter & Wyomia Tyus 1972 West Germany Christiane Krause , Ingrid Mickler , Annegret Richter & Heidemarie Rosendahl 1976 East Germany Marlies Oelsner , Renate Stecher, Carla Bodendorf & Bärbel Eckert 1980 East Germany Romy Müller , Bärbel Wöckel , Ingrid Auerswald & Marlies Göhr 1984 United States Alice Brown , Jeanette Bolden , Chandra Cheeseborough & Evelyn Ashford 1988 United States Alice Brown , Sheila Echols , Florence Griffith Joyner & Evelyn Ashford 1992 United States Evelyn Ashford, Esther Jones , Carlette Guidry & Gwen Torrence 1996 United States Gail Devers, Inger Miller, Chryste Gaines & Gwen Torrence 2000 Bahamas Sevatheda Fynes, Chandra Sturrup, Pauline Davis & Debbie Ferguson 2004 Jamaica Tayna Lawrence, Sherone Simpson, Aleen Bailey & Veronica Campbell |