Edward Stanley Temple (September 20, 1927 – September 22, 2016) was a women's

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

pioneer and coach. Temple was Head Women's Track and Field Coach at

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

for 44 years and was Head Coach of the U.S.

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

Women's Track and Field Team twice, in 1960 and 1964, and Assistant Coach in 1980. He was also a member of the International Women's Track & Field Committee and a member of the U.S. Olympic Council. During his coaching career at Tennessee State University, forty members of the famed Tigerbelle teams represented their countries in Olympic competition. Coach Temple led the team to 34 national titles, and 8 Tigerbelles have been inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, including

Wilma Rudolph Wilma Glodean Rudolph (June 23, 1940 – November 12, 1994) was an American sprinter, who became a world-record-holding Olympic champion and international sports icon in track and field following her successes in the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games. ...

Edith McGuire Edith Marie McGuire (born June 3, 1944), later known as Edith McGuire Duvall, is an American former sprinter. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, McGuire ran for Tennessee State University. TSU had a very successful women's sprinting team, The Tigerbelle ...

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 Fraser ...

, and

Chandra Cheeseborough Chandra Danette Cheeseborough (later ''Shellman'', born January 10, 1959) is a retired American sprinter. She won two gold medals and a silver at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Track and field Cheeseborough broke onto the internationa ...

, the current Women's Coach at TSU. Ed Temple statue at First Tennessee Park

Temple is a member of nine different Halls of Fame, including the

United States Olympic Hall of Fame United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

, the

National Track and Field Hall of Fame The National Track and Field Hall of Fame is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field. It is located within the Armory Foundation (the former Fort Washington Avenue Armory) at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, b ...

, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, and the

Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame The Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame (PSHF) is a nonprofit organization established in 1962.Home page
Pennsylvania Sports Hall o ...

. On August 28, 2015, a statue to memorialize Temple was unveiled along a greenway near the right field entrance to

First Horizon Park First Horizon Park, formerly known as First Tennessee Park, is a baseball park in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The home of the Triple-A Nashville Sounds of the International League, it opened on April 17, 2015, and can seat u ...

, a Minor League Baseball stadium in Nashville. In 2014, Temple was honoured by becoming the first

USA Track & Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

Legend Coach. Temple died on September 22, 2016, following an illness, two days after his 89th birthday.

References

External links

* * 1927 births 2016 deaths Sportspeople from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Tennessee State University faculty American track and field coaches American Olympic coaches {{US-athletics-bio-stub