Aeriwentha ("Mae") Faggs Starr (April 10, 1932 in

Mays Landing, New Jersey Mays Landing is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

) was an American athlete who mainly competed in the sprint events. She graduated from Bayside High School, and then went to

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 ...

to run under Hall of Fame coach

Ed Temple Edward Stanley Temple (September 20, 1927 – September 22, 2016) was a women's track and field pioneer and coach. Temple was Head Women's Track and Field Coach at Nashville's Tennessee State University for 44 years and was Head Coach of th ...

. She competed for the United States in the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

held in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

where she won the gold medal in the 4 x 100 meter relay with her teammates Barbara Jones,

Janet Moreau Janet Teresa Moreau Stone (October 26, 1927 – June 30, 2021) was an American track and field athlete who competed mainly in the 100 meters. Biography Moreau was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. She competed for the United States in the 1952 ...

and

Catherine Hardy Catherine Hardy Lavender ( née Catherine Hardy) (February 8, 1930 – September 8, 2017) was an American athlete who competed mainly in the 100-meter dash. She won an Olympic gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1952 Olympic Sum ...

. Four years later she went to the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

1956 Games as the sole returnee from the 1952 Games relay team, and teamed up with Margaret Matthews,

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. ...

and

Isabelle Daniels Isabelle Frances Daniels (later ''Holston''; July 31, 1937 – September 8, 2017) was an American sprinter. Daniels attended Tennessee State University, where she was part of their Amateur Athletic Union, AAU champion relay team for 5 years ...

but failed to retain the title, only managing to come away with the bronze medal. In 1955, she won the

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Oly ...

in the

100-yard dash 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length&nb ...

, in 10.8, record time.

USATF 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 a ...

reports her personal record as 10.70, though

fully automatic timing Fully automatic time (abbreviated FAT) is a form of race timing in which the clock is automatically activated by the starting device, and the finish time is either automatically recorded, or timed by analysis of a photo finish. The system is c ...

was extremely rare and only experimental during her career. She repeated winning the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

the following year in 11.7. She also won the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

or 220 yards three times in a row, 1954–1956. Indoors, she won the 220 yard dash six times between 1949 (as a 16-year-old) and 1956, equalling Stella Walsh (who was later determined to be of ambiguous gender) for the most championships by an individual athlete in that event. For many years, Mae taught athletics at Princeton High School in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

, and led the Princeton High School girls' track and field team to the Ohio championship in 1989. In 1976, she was elected into 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, ...

. She died on January 27, 2000, at her home in Woodlawn, Ohio, at age 67 due to cancer.

References

External links

Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faggs, Mae 1932 births 2000 deaths American female sprinters Tennessee State Lady Tigers track and field athletes Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1955 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics People from Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey People from Bayside, Queens Sportspeople from Queens, New York Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Bayside High School (Queens) alumni USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games Track and field athletes from New York City 20th-century American women 20th-century American people Olympic female sprinters