Long Armed Ludy and the First Women's Olympics by Jean L. S. Patrick

Lucille Ellerby Godbold or Ludy as she was called, was one of America's first Olympic champions. Ludy was born in Marion County on May 31, 1900. She was part of a large family that included seven children. Her family moved to Estill in Hampton County, South Carolina.

While attending Winthrop College, Ludy set records in the shot put, the discus throw and the triple jump. The college sent her onto Mamaroneck, New York where the qualifying meet for the U.S. track and field team was being held. This team which included Ludy, went on to compete in the First International Track Meet for Women - also known as the Women's Olympic Games in 1922 in Paris, France. Unhappy with the number of women's events in the Olympic Games, the Federation Sportive Feminine Internationale under the direction of Alice Milliat decided to organize their own Women's Olympics, called the 1922 Women's World Games. Athletes from five nations participated including Ludy Godbold.

At the Women's Games, Ludy won gold in the shot put with a throw of twenty meters and twenty-two centimeters. She also won gold in the triple jump, called the hop-step-jump. Ludy won silver in the basketball throw and was third in the javelin. She placed fourth in both the 300 meter dash and the 1000 meter run. Ludy was an international star!

Ludy graduated from Winthrop College with a degree in physical education in 1922 and was appointed athletic director of a private women's college, Columbia College in Columbia, South Carolina. She went on to teach physical education at Columbia for fifty-eight years. Ludy was the first woman inducted into the South Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1961. In 1971, Columbia College named its new physical education center after her. She passed away in 1981.

Ludy Godbold

Jean L.S. Patrick presents Ludy's amazing accomplishments in an enjoyable and descriptive manner. The text captures the sensations and emotions of the most significant events in Ludy's life. Patrick describes Ludy as "six feet tall and skinnier than a pine tree." When Ludy's coach encourages her to try the shot put, Bartlett writes,
"Ludy scooped up the heavy iron ball and placed it between her fingers. She bent her knees, pushed her long arm upward, and released! The ball soared across the sky.
Her heart boomed. Her long arm tingled. She loved the explosion of power."

At the Women's Olympics, after an amazing throw by France's world-record holder, Violette Gourand-Morris, Barlett describes Ludy's nerves as "Ludy's long arms wobbled like French custard. How could she beat that throw?" 


The wonderfully expressive text is accompanied by Adam Gustavson's colourful
illustrations. Gustavson effectively portrays Ludy's unusual physical appearance - she was tall and lanky. The book's full page illustrations were done in oil paint while gouache on waterpaper was used for the spot illustrations.

Patrick has obviously done considerable research using primary sources and it shows in the information this picture book presents to readers. She has included a section at the back on More About Ludy, The Women's Olympics and also has an Author's Note and a Selected Bibliography. Patrick writes that "...Ludy didn't become fully alive to me until I traveled to South Carolina to research her story. With awe, I read Ludy's diary, paged through her scrapbook, and saw her small, precious medals. Every item brimmed with emotion and determination." Patrick has more than succeeded in bringing that "emotion and determination" to the pages of Long-Armed Ludy for young and older readers alike.


Book Details:

Long-Armed Ludy and the First Women's Olympics by Jean L.S. Patrick
Watertown, MA:  Charlesbridge         2017

image credit: http://www.wikiwand.com/en/1922_Women%27s_World_Games