Edward Stanley Temple was born on September 20, 1927, and died on September 22, 2016.

He was a women’s track and field pioneer and coach.

Ed was Head Women’s Track and Field Coach at Nashville’s Tennessee State University for 44 years and was Head Coach of the U.S. Olympic Women’s Track and Field Team twice, in 1960 and 1964, and Assistant Coach in 1980.

Temple was also a member of the International Women’s Track & Field Committee and a member of the U.S. Olympic Council.

As a coach at Tennessee State University, forty members of the famed Tigerbelle teams represented their countries in Olympic competition.

He led the team to 34 national titles, and 8 Tigerbelles have been inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, including Wilma Rudolph, Edith McGuire, Wyomia Tyus and Chandra Cheeseborough, the current Women’s Coach at TSU.

Edward was a member of nine different Halls of Fame, including the United States Olympic Hall of Fame, the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.

In his honour, a statue to memorialize Temple was unveiled along a green way near the right field entrance to First Tennessee Park, on August 28, 2015, a minor league baseball stadium in Nashville.

Ed Temple passed away at 89 years old.