Earlene Brown

Earlene Dennis Brown (June 11, 1935 – 1983) was a U.S. African American athlete notable for her careers in the sports of track and field and roller derby. Brown was born in Laredo, Texas.

Track and Field Career

Her events of choice were the shot put and discus throwing. Considered one of the greatest American women throwers of all times, Earlene Brown finished in the top ten in the shot put and discus in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, setting American records in both events.

Brown was an eight-time (1956-1962 and 1964) and three-time (1958, 1959 and 1961) national champion in the shot put and discus, respectively. In 1958, she received the #1 world ranking and became the first American to break the 50-foot barrier in the shot put. In 1959, she won gold medals in both the shot put and discus events at the Pan American Games.

Undoubtedly, the highlight of Brown's track and field career came in 1960, when she won a bronze medal for her shot put performance (16.42 m) at the Summer Olympics in Rome. Brown was the only American woman to win at the Olympics Games until 1992, when Connie Price-Smith won the discus and shot put at the U.S. Olympic trials. After a subpar performance in the 1964 Summer Olympics, Brown retired from track and field competition.

On December 1, 2005, Earlene Brown was posthumously inducted in the National Track and Field Hall of Fame by the USA Track and Field (USATF) during the Jesse Owens Awards and Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony held in Jacksonville, Florida.

Roller Derby Career

After a successful career in the international track and field community, Brown made her debut in the banked track sport of roller derby in 1965. She began her skating career with Roller Games' Texas Outlaws and New York Bombers. At almost 6 feet tall (on skates) and over 250 pounds, Brown quickly became one of the sport's most feared defensive skaters – her signature move being "the bear hug."

After a brief retirement, Brown returned to roller derby, skating with the World Famous, World Champion Los Angeles Thunderbirds. It was at this juncture that she became known in the sport as "747" because of her incredible size and weight - she even wore "747" on her jersey! Despite her girth, the former Olympian displayed amazing quickness and agility and even served as an occasional jammer. In a game skated at Comiskey Park in Chicago on September 15, 1972, Brown mesmerized the soldout crowd with an outstanding performance that motivated the fans to breakout into a chant of her name. Years later, she was quoted as saying that moment was her "biggest thrill in skating."

After the 1974 season, Brown permanently retired from roller derby. She died in 1983 in Compton, California.