Lucile “Miss Ludy” Godbold (1900-1981) of Estill, South Carolina was one of America’s first female Olympic champions and a pioneer of American women’s competitive athletics. A star athlete at Winthrop College, Godbold earned a spot on the United States track and field team in the First International Track Meet for Women at the women’s Olympic Games in Paris in 1922. Godbold broke the world record in the eight-pound shot put and secured two gold medals and second, third, and fourth place in other events. With Godbold on the team, the U.S. team place second in the Games. Upon her return to South Carolina in international acclaim, she became the director of physical education at Columbia College where she remained for 58 years. Godbold became the first woman elected into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 1961, and in 2005, she was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame.
