wyomia tyus (pronunciation: "why-o-ma"; born august 29, 1945 in griffin, georgia, united states) is an american athlete. she was the first person to win and keep the olympic title in the 100 m. she participated in the 1964 summer olympics at age 19. in the heats of the event, she equalled wilma rudolph's world record. she was in a good position for the final. her main rival was another american, edith mcguire. tyus won the final, beating mcguire by two tenths of a second. at the same olympics, she also won a silver medal with the 4 x 100 m relay team.