Editor’s Note: In honor of Women’s History Month, The News Courier and Limestone County Archives are celebrating some of Limestone County’s many impactful and history-making women. Each Thursday, The News Courier will publish the story of one of these incredible people, and readers can learn more about women’s history in Limestone County by visiting “Notable Women of Limestone,” a special exhibit on display through the end of March at the Limestone County Archives.

Her old high school’s band played on the Limestone County Courthouse steps and the crowd on the Square chanted “USA, USA, USA,” as the world’s fastest woman came home to a hero’s welcome on that October Saturday afternoon.

It was Evelyn Ashford’s first visit back to Limestone County after the former Clements High School track star won gold medals in the 100-meter dash and relay races in the 1984 Summer Olympics, setting a new Olympic record in the process.

“I am overwhelmed to be so honored,” Ashford told the crowd. “It makes all the hard work and dedication worthwhile to know how much I’m appreciated.”

Ashford, a native of Louisiana, moved with her family to Limestone County in 1970 and immediately joined the Clements track team. Starting as an eighth grader, the sprinter won every race she ran, from county to state to national competitions, setting two state records and one national track record by the time she was 15. She led the Clements team to state championships in 1971 and 1972, and she won so many races that her track coach, Marcia Black, had to assure her the burns on her neck from hitting finish line tapes would indeed disappear.

Her family moved again to California, where her father was stationed for his service in the Air Force, but her new school did not have a girls track team. So she ran on the boys team, where a UCLA women’s track coach noticed her and offered her a scholarship. At UCLA, she won four national collegiate championships and first made the Olympic track team in 1976. She went on to run – and win – in five Olympic games, including her final one in 1992 at age 35, where she won gold in the 4 x 100 relay race.

On October 5 and 6, 1984, the people of Limestone County welcomed her back at the culmination of a Fiddlers Convention week that included Ashford’s presence as guest of honor at the Fiddlers Run and a ceremony on the Square in which Athens Mayor Maurice Nichols presented her with a key to the city, several local dignitaries awarded her with recognition of her accomplishments, and Black gave her Clements annuals and a framed cross-stitching that read, “Sweet Home Alabama.”

Ashford took time at that ceremony and a press conference to talk about what running and her achievements meant to her.

“To me, running is fun. I love it. I was born to do it and could always do it,” Ashford told The News Courier at the time. But she also acknowledged the hard work it took to achieve her level of success, and she encouraged other women to do the same. “If you try to do something long enough and hard enough, you can do it. I tried a long time, and it has paid off for me.”

By the time Ashford retired, she had earned four Olympic gold medals and one Olympic silver medal, set a world record, broke her world record, won four World Cup titles and ran 20 of the 23 fastest 100’s in U.S. history. She was named “Athlete of the Year” twice by Track & Field News, in 1981 and 1984, and she was inducted into the Limestone County Sports Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 2003.