View source for Helen Stephens

{{Short description|American athlete (1918–1994)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name          = Helen Stephens
| image         = Helen Stephens 1936.jpg
| image_size    = 
| caption       = Stephens in 1936
| full_name     = Helen Herring Stephens<ref name=sports-reference>{{cite web|title=Helen Stephens |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/st/helen-stephens-1.html |website=sports-reference.com |publisher=Sports Reference LLC |access-date=June 6, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150523052634/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/st/helen-stephens-1.html |archive-date=May 23, 2015 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
| nickname      = The Fulton Flash<ref name=sports-reference/>
| birth_date    = February 3, 1918<ref name=sports-reference/>
| birth_place   = [[Fulton, Missouri]], U.S.<ref name=sports-reference/>
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1994|1|17|1918|2|3}}<ref name=sports-reference/>
| death_place   = [[St. Louis, Missouri]], U.S.<ref name=sports-reference/>
| height        = 5 ft 11+1/2 in<ref name=sports-reference/>
| weight        = 154 lb<ref name=sports-reference/>
| country       = 
| sport         = Athletics
| event         = 100 m, 200 m, shot put, discus throw
| club          =
| team          =
| retired       =
| coaching      =
| worlds        =
| nationals     =
| olympics      =
| highestranking = 
| pb            =100 yd – 10.4 (1935)<br> 100 m – 11.5 (1936)<br> 200 m – 24.1 (1936)<br> shot put − 13.70 m (1937)<br> discus – 39.50 m (1936)
| show-medals    = yes
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Athletics at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold| [[1936 Summer Olympics|1936 Berlin]] | [[Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metres|100 m]]}}
{{MedalGold| 1936 Berlin |[[Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay|4 × 100 m relay]]}}
}}

'''Helen Herring Stephens''' (February 3, 1918 – January 17, 1994) was an American [[Athletics (sport)|athlete]] and a double [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] champion in 1936.

==Biography==
Stephens, nicknamed the "Fulton Flash" after her birthplace, [[Fulton, Missouri]], was a strong athlete in sprint events—she never lost a race in her entire career—and also in weight events such as the [[shot put]] and [[discus throw]]. She won national titles in both categories.

When she was 18, Stephens participated in the [[1936 Summer Olympics]]. There she won the [[100 metres at the Olympics|100 m]] final, beating reigning champion and [[world record]] holder, [[Stanisława Walasiewicz]] (aka Stella Walsh) of [[Poland]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=owVRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Eb8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=3772%2C2021308 |title=Helen Stephens is best athlete: Missouri's Olympic star wins Associated Press honor |date=December 15, 1936 |newspaper=Lawrence Journal-World |author=Alan Gould |access-date=August 23, 2016 }}</ref><ref name=pinched>{{Cite news |periodical=The Herald |title=Hitler pinched my bottom |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/helen-stephens-hitler-pinched-my-bottom-1.891278 |first=Doug |last=Gillon |access-date=October 7, 2008 }}</ref> Stephen's time of 11.5 s was below the [[world record]], but was not recognized because a strong tailwind was blowing at the time of the race. Next, Stephens anchored the American [[4 × 100 metres relay at the Olympics|4 × 100 m relay]] team that won the Olympic title after the leading [[Germany|German]] team dropped its baton.

Stephens is quoted by Olympic historian, David Wallechinsky, about her post-race experience with [[Adolf Hitler]].<ref name=pinched /> "He comes in and gives me the Nazi salute. I gave him a good, old-fashioned Missouri handshake," she said. "Once more Hitler goes for the jugular vein. He gets hold of my fanny and begins to squeeze and pinch, and hug me up. And he said: 'You're a true Aryan type. You should be running for Germany.' So after he gave me the once over and a full massage, he asked me if I'd like to spend the weekend in [[Berchtesgaden]]." Stephens refused.<ref name=pinched /><ref>Kinney-Hanson, Sharon (2004). The life of Helen Stephens: the Fulton Flash. Southern Illinois University Press. {{ISBN|0-8093-2559-4}}.</ref>

Stephens retired from athletics shortly after the games and played professional [[baseball]] and [[softball]]. She attended [[William Woods University]], Fulton High School, and Middle River School in Fulton. She was later inducted into the [[William Woods Owls]] Hall of Fame, described as "the most well-known athlete in Fulton’s history."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-04-17 |title=The "Fulton Flash" Will Be Inducted Into the William Woods Hall of Fame |url=https://wwuowls.com/news/2013/4/17/GEN_0417134339.aspx |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=William Woods University Athletics |language=en}}</ref> From 1938 to 1952, she was the owner and manager of her own semi-professional [[basketball]] team; she was the first woman to own and manage a semi-professional basketball team.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gak0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=NWoFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4513%2C861231 |title=Did you know? |date=November 7, 2005 |newspaper=Mc Cook Gazette |access-date=August 23, 2016 }}</ref> She was employed for many years in the Research Division of the U.S. Aeronautical Chart and Information Service (later, a part of the [[National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency|Defense Mapping Agency]]) in [[St. Louis]], Missouri.

Her longtime partner was Mabel O. Robbe (née Wires), a dietician at [[History of Shimer College|Francis Shimer College]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=In Memoriam - 31 Oct 1986, Fri • Main Edition • Page 20|journal=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|date=1986|page=20|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16768225/st_louis_postdispatch/|access-date=22 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The State Historical Society of Missouri collection on Helen Stephens – Biographical Sketch |url=https://shsmo.org/manuscripts/columbia/c3552.pdf |access-date=7 June 2018 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141218/https://shsmo.org/manuscripts/columbia/c3552.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1993, she was inducted into the [[National Women's Hall of Fame]].<ref>[https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/helen-stephens/ National Women's Hall of Fame, Helen Stephens]</ref>

She died in Saint Louis at age 75.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5IRPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RSUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4363%2C4393399 |title=Olympic start Stephens dies |date=January 19, 1994 |newspaper=Times-News (Henderson, NC) |access-date=August 23, 2016 }}</ref>

==1936 Olympic gender controversy==
At the 1936 Olympics, it was suggested that both Stephens and [[Stanisława Walasiewicz]] were, in fact, male.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/43890575 |title=Caster Semenya expected to be affected by IAAF rule changes |work=BBC Sport| access-date=26 April 2018}}</ref> Stephens received scrutiny over her gender after her 100 m victory, with the [[Warsaw]]-based newspaper Kurier Poranny writing, "It is scandalous that the Americans entered a man in the women's competition."<ref>"Polish Writer Calls Helen Stephens 'Man,'" ''Los Angeles Times,'' 6 August 1936, quoted in Michael Waters, ''The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports'' (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024), 214.</ref> Other newspapers soon also reported on Stephens alleged lack of femininity. Stephens later told her biographer that she told reporters who questioned her about her gender "to check the facts with the Olympic committee physician who sex-tested all athletes prior to competition."<ref>Hanson, Sharon (2004). ''The Life of Helen Stephens''. Southern Illinois University Press. p. 96; quoted in Waters, Michael (2024) ''The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports''. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 215.</ref>

Newspapers soon reported that German officials had given Stephens a so-called sex test and let her compete only after they had confirmed she was a woman.<ref>Waters, Michael (2024). ''The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports''. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 215.</ref> The ''Harrisbug Telegraph'' reported that [[International Olympic Committee]] performed a physical check on Stephens and concluded that she was a woman.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6344479/harrisburg_telegraph/ |title=Helen Stephens is real girl |date=August 6, 1936 |newspaper= Harrisburg Telegraph |page=14 |access-date=August 23, 2016 }}</ref> These reports were denied by IOC committee member [[Avery Brundage]] and no further evidence surfaced. In 1938, [[Paul Gallico]] in his book ''Farewell to Sport'' suggested that American sports officials had examined Stephens prior to the Olympic games.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waters |first=Michael |title=The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |year=2024 |isbn=978-0374609818 |pages=216}}</ref> On August 28, following the Olympics but before returning to New York, Stephens wrote in her diary that she was inspected by American officials.<ref>Waters, Michael (2024). ''The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports''. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 234.</ref> Walasiewicz in fact had been born [[intersex]], a fact not made public until after her death in 1980.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Cohn|first=Victor|date=1981-01-23|title=Famed Olympic Medalist Stella Walsh Wasn't a 'She,' Autopsy Finds|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/01/24/famed-olympic-medalist-stella-walsh-wasnt-a-she-autopsy-finds/a4102ef3-7307-40f1-acd5-abcd13bb26e3/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827152514/https://www.washingtonpost.com/web/20170827152514/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/01/24/famed-olympic-medalist-stella-walsh-wasnt-a-she-autopsy-finds/a4102ef3-7307-40f1-acd5-abcd13bb26e3/|archive-date=2017-08-27|access-date=2024-05-21|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>

== Bibliography ==
* ''The Life of Helen Stephens – The Fulton Flash'', by Sharon Kinney Hanson, 2004.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{USATF Hall of Fame|id=161}}
* {{World Athletics|14557982}}
* {{Olympics.com|helen-herring-stephens}}
* {{Olympedia}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions 100 m Women}}
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{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in women's 200 m}}
{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in women's long jump}}
{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in women's 60 m}}
{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in women's shot put}}
{{Footer US NC 100m Women}}
{{Footer US NC 200m Women}}
{{Footer US NC shot put Women}}
{{Footer US NC Discus Throw Women}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1936 Summer Olympics}}
{{National Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year navbox}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Helen}}
[[Category:1918 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:American women discus throwers]]
[[Category:American women shot putters]]
[[Category:American women sprinters]]
[[Category:American women's basketball players]]
[[Category:American women baseball players]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:William Woods Owls women's track and field athletes]]
[[Category:People from Fulton, Missouri]]
[[Category:Softball players from Missouri]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from Missouri]]
[[Category:USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners]]
[[Category:USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportswomen]]
[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Missouri]]
[[Category:LGBTQ track and field athletes]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ sportswomen]]
[[Category:Olympic women sprinters]]