SPORTS
1968 Olympics Human Rights Salute
The 1968 Olympics Human Rights Salute was a political demonstration conducted by African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos during their medal ceremony on October 16, 1968, at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the Olympic Stadium in Mexico City. After Smith and Carlos won gold and bronze medals, respectively, in the 200-meter running event, they […]
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Bill Russell, first black head coach of a major American pro team to win a championship.
It was the year when Boston Celtics player-coach Bill Russell, one of the most influential athlete activists ever, became the first black head coach of a major American pro team to win a championship.
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Bob Gibson most dominant pitching season in baseball history
It was the year when St. Louis pitcher Bob Gibson compartmentalized his grief over the assassination of King — “the one man in my lifetime who had been able to capture the public’s attention about racial injustice” — and put together the most dominant pitching season in baseball history.
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Shriver Creates the Special Olympics
The first International Special Olympics Games were held in Chicago in 1968. Anne McGlone Burke, a physical education teacher with the Chicago Park District, began with the idea for a one-time Olympic-style athletic competition for people with special needs. Burke then approached Eunice Kennedy Shriver, head of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, to fund […]
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George Foreman won a gold medal heavyweight bout against Soviet boxer
And on the last day in Mexico City, George Foreman won a gold medal heavyweight bout against Soviet boxer Ionas Chepulis dubbed the “Cold War clash.” To celebrate, Foreman gripped a small American flag and ran around the ring. Some were offended, considering it a rebuke to Carlos and Smith. Others saw Foreman’s act as […]
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Bob Beamon set a long-jump world record
Bob Beamon set a long-jump world record that would last nearly 23 years.
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Willie Horton lead the Tigers to a Game 7 World Series victory
It was the year when Detroit outfielder Willie Horton, who, in 1967, walked the Motor City streets wearing his uniform and trying to persuade rioters to stop the violence, helped lead the Tigers to a Game 7 World Series victory over Gibson’s Cardinals. That championship did a lot for the city’s post-riot healing.
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Arthur Ashe – first black man to win a major tennis title
It was the year when Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win a major tennis title, at the U.S. Open.
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