Wyomia Tyus

Where Is She Now?

Wyomia Tyus currently lives in Los Angeles with her second husband, Duane Tillman. She has two grown children: a daughter, Simone, and a son, Tyus. She made no money from her amateur track career through endorsements and other similar contracts that support today's world-class athletes. She did use the advantages of her Olympic status to continue in a positive direction for herself and for others. As history has caught up with the importance of her contributions to track, Tyus has proved the value of her experience through leadership roles in a number of important areas.

In 1974 Tyus, along with tennis star Billie Jean King and Olympic swimmer Donna de Varona and other female athletes, founded the nonprofit Women's Sports Foundation. The Foundation was created to help girls coming up in sports find guidance through education, advocacy, recognition, and opportunity. By 1994, the Women's Sports Foundation was handing out grants that totaled over $800,000 to programs that supported girls in sports and to individuals who needed funding to achieve their athletic goals.

Tyus has been a tireless speaker on behalf of female participation in sports as well as other areas of athletics and physical fitness. In 1982, she traveled to sixty cities on a tour that promoted women's athletics. In 1985, she participated in a clinic at Pepperdine University that enlightened high school students of all abilities to the variety of careers available in sports. In 1997, she was spokesperson for the Active and Ageless program that encouraged people over 50 to exercise. In 2000, she served in a leadership role on the United States Olympic Committee's (USOC) Project Gold 2000.

During most of this time, Tyus has been an outdoor education specialist for the Los Angeles Unified School District. It's a job that she finds very satisfying, one in which she considers the Angelus National Forest her office. She told People, "I get to hike every day and leave the smog behind."