Wilma is the short form of Wilhelmina, from the Old Germanic wil + helm ("resolute helmet"). **Wilma Rudolph (1940-1994)** — American sprinter who **overcame polio at age 5 to become the first American woman to win three gold medals at a single Olympics** (Rome 1960). **Wilma Mankiller (1945-2010)** — the **first female elected Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation** (1985-1995), tripling Cherokee Nation enrollment and revitalizing tribal services. **Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1998).**
Two of the most consequential 20th-century Wilmas.
Wilma reduces to one — the number of resolute helmet.