Biography of Stella Walsh


Stella Walsh – sportswoman, sprinter, was born on December 4, 1911 in Poland. Stella Walsh’s biography is best known as the history of the Olympic runner, which had both male and female chromosomes.

In 1930 and 1940, Stella Walsh was the leading athlete in the race. She won 41 US championships in various categories of running. Born in Poland, Walsh moved to the United States, becoming a brilliant athlete at Cleveland High School.

Speaking for Poland at the Olympics in 1932, Walsh won a gold medal at a distance of 100 m. At the Berlin Olympics in 1936, she lost at the hundred-meter mark to her rival Helen Stevens.

Rapidly there were discussions after a hint of Walsh supporters that Stevens was too fast to be a woman. After such disputes, the German doctors examined Stevens, confirmed her belonging to the female sex.

Walsh continued to participate in amateur competitions until 1954. In 1975, she was elected to the National Athletics Hall of Fame.

Five years later, Walsh was killed by a random bullet in the Cleveland mall. Autopsy surprised everyone, because it turned out that Walsh had male genitalia, as well as male and female chromosomes. This phenomenon is called mosaicism.


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Biography of Stella Walsh