Tennessee State: Ed Temple To Be Honored With Statue

ED TEMPLE
COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Mayor Karl Dean will join friends and supporters of legendary TSU and U.S. Olympic women’s track coach Ed Temple at a reception Tuesday, Sept. 30, to announce the creation of a statue honoring Temple.

The event will be held at 5 p.m. in the main atrium at Bridgestone Arena. Pete Weber, voice of the Nashville Predators, will moderate a discussion with Coach Temple following remarks from Mayor Dean and Bo Roberts, who has led the effort for this statue for more than 15 years. Nationally renowned sports sculptor Brian Hanlon will be on hand to unveil a model of the statue.

The reception will announce the creation of a statue honoring Coach Temple, including an announcement of the statue’s location, a model of the statue and a call for fundraising support.

Temple was head women's track and field coach at Tennessee State University for 44 years. During his coaching career at Tennessee State University, forty members of the famed Tigerbelle teams have represented their countries in Olympic competition. Coach Temple has led the team to 34 national titles, and eight 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 coach at TSU.

Temple has been inducted into at least nine Hall of Fames, including one from his alma mater Tennessee State University.

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION