It was only fitting that the route for the Atlanta-bound Olympic torch ran right through the heart of the historically Black Tennessee State University (TSU) campus in Nashville. After all, the school has a storied tradition in women's track and field.

In four decades, 40 TSU athletes have competed in the Olympic Games, winning 29 medals -- 16 gold, eight silver and five bronze. During its heyday, Coach Ed Temple fashioned the Tigerbelles into an unprecedented assembly line of national champions, Olympic champions and world record-setters. Wilma Rudolph, Wyomia Tyus, Edith McGuire Duvall, Madeline Manning Mims and Mae Faggs Starr, all former Tigerbelles, are legends of the sport.

But that was then. The Tigerbelles haven't had an Olympian since Chandra Cheeseborough won two gold medals in both sprint relays and a silver medal in the 400-yard race at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Now there's a move afoot to recapture those days of past glory.

The first part of this restoration started two years ago when Temple retired and TSU hired Cheeseborough as the Tigerbelles' coach. Cheeseborough, who was coached by Temple in the late 1970s and early 1980s, is keenly aware of the school's legacy and everything it represents.

"We're trying to rebuild this program," Cheeseborough asserts. "We want to get back to where we were. We've been dormant for a while, but TSU can make a comeback."

However, there are no quick-fix solutions to reviving women's track at TSU. In today's college sports universe, predominantly white schools are actively pursuing -- and signing -- the vast majority of elite-level Black athletes. That's the prime reason UCLA, Arkansas, Louisiana State and Texas have emerged as perennial collegiate track powers.

Cheeseborough knows it will take time for TSU to acquire a sufficient number of top-grade performers capable of successfully competing at the national and world-class levels. That is why the head Tigerbelle is taking the gradual approach in helping to initiate the turnaround.