Title IX pioneers: Reita Clanton became Olympic star despite inequalities

Over a 20-year period, Reita Clanton participated in all three Olympics hosted  by the United States.

Clanton, who was born in Lafayette, Alabama, did all of this despite not having an accessible route to organized sports during her childhood.

Prior to making a name for herself as a world-class handball player, Clanton did not have an opportunity to play organized sports, as there were no options available for females. She played recreationally.

Alabama's Title IX pioneers

► Sarah Patterson helped Alabama gymnastics find footing

► Vonetta Flowers, first Black athlete to win a gold medal at Winter Olympics

► Roberta Alison Baumgardner played for Alabama men's tennis before Title IX

►Marianne Merritt was 1st woman to get basketball scholarship at Auburn

Clanton went on to play volleyball and basketball at Auburn. She played in the pre-NCAA days for women's sports, under the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AAIAW).

During her time with the Tigers, she was named to the AAIAW All-State Teams in both basketball and volleyball for two consecutive years (1973-74).

Clanton also competed for a travel league softball team while at Auburn and following her graduation, she was the coach for the first organized softball team at Auburn in the mid-70s.

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In 1974, she joined the U.S. women's national handball team. She was selected as the U.S. delegate to the International Olympics Academy in Olympian, Greece in 1977.

She competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics in handball in Los Angeles. The US placed fourth that season.

In the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, she served as a coach for the U.S. handball team and she carried the torch prior to the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

Clanton was the head coach of the bronze medal winning U.S. team in the 1991 Olympic Festivals, also serving as coach in 1985, 1987 and 1995.

Clanton earned the United State Olympic Committee National Coach of the Year in 1996 as an assistant coach for the U.S. at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

She served as the U.S. Olympic head coach in 2000. Clanton was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.

In 1997, she co-authored "Team Handball: Steps to Success (Steps to Success Sports)," with Mary Phyl Dwight.

Contact Ehsan Kassim at 256-300-5313 or ekassim@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Reita Clanton became Olympic star despite not having equal opportunites