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From an Albany State University press release:
When Olympic gold medalist and high jumper Alice Coachman (Davis) appears on NBC’s the Today Show on April 18. Albany State University alumni and fans will be on campus cheering her on. Friends and fans of Coachman will rise early to attend a viewing party in the Theatre Room of Hall 5 from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.  All ASU alumni chapters are invited to attend.

The event coincides with NBC’s kick off “100 Days Opening Ceremony in Times Square”.

Four generations of high jumpers and 1948 Olympians will be recognized by the United States Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Coachman (1948) will be joined by Dick Fosbury (1968), Chaunte Lowe (2004, 2008) and Jesse Williams (reigning World Champion and 2012 hopeful).

Coachman was the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal and the only American woman to win a gold medal in the 1948 Olympics in London.  In 1949 she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in home economics from Albany State College and began teaching high school physical education in Albany, Ga.  She created the Alice Coachman Track and Field Foundation to help other athletes and former Olympians adjust to life after the games.  In 1975, Coachman was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.  She was also inducted into the Black Athletes Hall of Fame, Bob Douglas Hall of Fame, Helm’s Hall of Fame, the Georgia State Hall of Fame and the Tuskegee Hall of Fame.

For more information about the viewing party, please contact the ASU Office of Alumni Affairs at (229) 430.4658. Light refreshments will be served.