Ruth White
Personal information
Born (1951-07-16) July 16, 1951
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Sport
SportFencing
Medal record
Fencing
Representing  United States
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place1971 CaliTeam
Silver medal – second place1971 CaliIndividual

Ruth White (born July 16, 1951) is an American doctor and retired fencer.

Life and career

White was born on July 16, 1951[1] in Baltimore, Maryland where she faced racial discrimination at school for being African-American.[2]

In 1969, White became the first African-American to win a US fencing championship. She also competed at the 1971 Pan American Games where she won a gold medal in the team foil event and silver medal in the individual foil event.[2]

She was the first African-American women to represent the US in fencing at the Olympics.[2] She competed in the women's individual and team foil events at the 1972 Summer Olympics.[3]

Soon after she competed at the Olympics, White left fencing to go into medicine at the New York University School of Medicine and went on to work in internal medicine.[2]

White was inducted into NYU's Hall of Fame in 1989 and into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame in 2001.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Ruth WHITE - Olympic Fencing | United States of America". International Olympic Committee. June 12, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Henneman, Kristen (February 27, 2017). "Olympian Ruth White Found Freedom in Fencing". USA Fencing. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Ruth White Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
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