American fencer
Ruth White (born July 16, 1951) is an American doctor and retired foil fencer.
Life and career
White was born on July 16, 1951[1] in Baltimore, Maryland where she faced racial discrimination at school for being African-American.[2]
In 1969, White became the first African-American to win a US fencing championship. She also competed at the 1971 Pan American Games where she won a gold medal in the team foil event and silver medal in the individual foil event.[2]
She was the first African-American women to represent the US in fencing at the Olympics.[2] She competed in the women's individual and team foil events at the 1972 Summer Olympics.[3]
Soon after she competed at the Olympics, White left fencing to go into medicine at the New York University School of Medicine and went on to work in internal medicine.[2]
White was inducted into NYU's Hall of Fame in 1989 and into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame in 2001.[2]
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