Black History Hoop Spotlight: Wendy Hilliard

Wendy Hilliard was the first African American woman to compete on the U.S. National Team for Rhythmic Gymnastics. 

Wendy Hilliard has been a major force in women’s, Olympic, and community sports. She broke boundaries being the 1st Black to represent the U.S. globally, and she remained on the Rhythmic Gymnastics National Team a record-setting 9 times, serving twice as National Team Captain.

As a child, Hilliard was originally a swimmer. After seeing gymnastics on TV, she became increasingly interested in the sport. She ended up falling in love with rhythmic gymnastics and was initially trained by coaches brought in from the, then, Soviet Union.

Back when Hilliard was competing, the color of her skin was a barrier. In an interview with The Huff. post, Hilliard said she even missed out on the chance to compete in an international competition because of it.

“One year they didn’t put me on the team for world championships. We were at the Olympic training center and were there for like 6 weeks. … The coach [said] ‘Oh Wendy, what are we going to do with you? You stand out too much.’ I was like, ‘So you’re telling me I’m not on the team because I’m black…?’ So I had to fight it,” said Hilliard.

Hilliard competed in 3 World Championships and the 1984 Olympic Trials and traveled to over 15 foreign countries. She was a 4-time U.S. National Team Coach and coached 1996 Olympian, Aliane Baquerot Wilson.

In 2008, Hilliard was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Her non–profit organization, the Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation, has provided free gymnastics for almost 25,000 urban youth in Harlem, NY since 1996 and expanded to Detroit in 2016, which is also the year the organization launched Black Gymnasts in History.

“I’ve had to find ways so that my kids, urban kids, even if you don’t have a lot of money [or] come from a challenging home, you can still be a great gymnast,” said Hilliard.

Learn more about Wendy  or more about the Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation.

This info was found in an article by Rachel Gebreyes from The Huffington Post and from wendyhilliard.org

@wendyhilliardfoundation (https://www.instagram.com/wendyhilliardfoundation/)