She was born in Poland as Stanislawa Walasiewicz, After four months, her parents relocated to the United States and she changed name to Stella Walsh. The identity crisis continued even in death.
In July 1911, Stella landed in Cleveland were her dad found a job. The girl enrolled in school and became a household name in sports. She became the first woman to do the 100 yards in less than 11 seconds. This immigrant won prizes including a car from the City of Cleveland, Ohio.
Walsh was good enough for the 1928 Olympics. The only snag was that she could not represent the United States because she was not a citizen yet. The athlete also could not wear the Star and Stripes at the 1932 Games. Then she remembered her Polish background.
The Poles gave their own a job at the Embassy and she represented her country of birth at the Olympics. Stella was outstanding, equalling the world record in the 100 metres which stood at 11.9 seconds and went home with the gold medal. In the discus throw,her finishing was not so good, no thanks to a sixth position.
Some Americans were not happy that Walsh chose Poland above the United States. And at the Berlin ’36 Olympics, they were sure Helen Stephens would teach her a lesson. Back in the US, the Missouri lass had dusted the Olympic champion more than once.
And yes, it happened. Helen, once derided by Stella as ” a greenie from the sticks“, dethroned the defending champion. That race generated so much bad blood that a Polish journalist alleged that Helen was a man, not a woman. And the winner had to be examined physically.
Helen went through another drama. She was ushered into Adolf Hitler’s cubicle after winning the race. Hitler went lecherous, pinching her buttocks and inviting her to spend a weekend with him. The bashful sprinter pushed the Fuhrer away.
After the Berlin Games, Stella Walsh left Poland for the United States. Helen Stephens joined the US Marines and fought in the Second World War as a US Marine.Unfortunately, she did not meet Hitler in the battle field. The soldier woman would have been so glad to castrate the Nazi war monger.
In 1947, Stella was granted American citizenship and she also got married to Neil Olson, a boxer. It was believed that her refusal to represent the United States angered some Yankees and they paid her back by delaying the process of naturalization. She spent her remaining years in the country.
While she enjoyed her stay in the United States, Miss Walsh would not forget the year 1967. Polish sprinter, Ewa Klobukowska, turned out to be the first athlete to fail a sex test. She had won gold with her country’s 4×100 metres relay team at the Tokyo ’64 Olympic Games and also grabbed bronze in the 100 metres.
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The greatest shock came on December 4, 1980. Stella had gone to a Departmental Store in Cleveland to buy ribbons for members of the visiting Polish national Basketball team. While she made her way to the parking lot, a gang of robbers struck. She was hit by a bullet. That ended the life of an Olympic champion, a star who set 51 Polish records, eight European records and 18 world records.
According to reports: “An autopsy showed that she had no uterus, an abnormal urethra, and a non-functioning, under developed penis, although some sources suggest that she also displayed female characteristics.”
It turned out to be that under present rules, Stella Walsh was a man. And in 1932, a Canadian official had noticed this quality in her. Strange enough, in 1936, Helen Stephens was forced to undergo a test to determine her sex while Stella strolled away with the silver medal.
In Nigeria, we all remember the celebrated case of Iyabo Abade who played for the Super Falcons as a woman but has today become James Johnson and at a time wanted to be the first to play for the female and male national soccer teams of country. She almost succeeded when a call up came from the Flying Eagles.
in 1998, Abade came out to say she felt more like a man than a woman and in 2004, underwent surgery in the United States. As a woman, she played for Major Kids, Agege, Vero Bim,Lagos, Rivers Angels Port Harcourt and Jegede Babes, Lagos respectively and was nicknamed Ronaldo.
After surgery, she craved to live normal life as a man. The new name was James Johnson. However, after trials at Crown FC Oshogbo and later Plateau United, he was discovered to be an ex-woman. Club officials did not know where to place her. They sent her away to join the labour market.
