Black Star Power... a celebration of black excellence thread on-going
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They were once sent home for their Olympic protest. Now they’ll get the USOPC’s highest honor.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...ugS8Zo_3AZuMJwnq9oLr0mEdBBubUJnfAKU3i51bG3Sdo
Nearly 51 years after the organization expelled Tommie Smith and John Carlos from the Summer Olympics, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee is bestowing its highest honor on two of the sporting world’s most iconic activists.
The sprinters highlight the USOPC Hall of Fame’s latest induction class and will be formally honored at a ceremony Nov. 1 in Colorado Springs, the organization announced Monday. This year’s inductees also include basketball player Lisa Leslie, gymnast Nastia Liukin, beach volleyball player Misty May-Treanor, speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno, swimmer Dara Torres and the 1998 U.S. Olympic women’s ice hockey team.
The organization’s hall of fame was established in 1979. It has been dormant for stretches; this year marks the first induction class since 2012 and the 16th overall.
Smith and Carlos were responsible for one of the most recognizable moments in Olympic history, raising their fists in protest on the medals podium at the 1968 Summer Olympics. They have both previously been bestowed with a long list of honors, including induction into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Their exclusion from the USOPC’s hall highlighted the thorny relationship the organization has had with the two sprinters for decades. At the 1968 Games in Mexico City, the USOPC — which was known as the U.S. Olympic Committee until changing its name earlier this year — succumbed to pressure and sent the men home following their controversial protest.
“One could be forgiven for rolling their eyes at the USOC finally — after 51 years — catching up with the rest of the world,” Dave Zirin, the sports columnist for the Nation who co-wrote Carlos’s autobiography, wrote in an email Monday.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...ugS8Zo_3AZuMJwnq9oLr0mEdBBubUJnfAKU3i51bG3Sdo
Nearly 51 years after the organization expelled Tommie Smith and John Carlos from the Summer Olympics, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee is bestowing its highest honor on two of the sporting world’s most iconic activists.
The sprinters highlight the USOPC Hall of Fame’s latest induction class and will be formally honored at a ceremony Nov. 1 in Colorado Springs, the organization announced Monday. This year’s inductees also include basketball player Lisa Leslie, gymnast Nastia Liukin, beach volleyball player Misty May-Treanor, speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno, swimmer Dara Torres and the 1998 U.S. Olympic women’s ice hockey team.
The organization’s hall of fame was established in 1979. It has been dormant for stretches; this year marks the first induction class since 2012 and the 16th overall.
Smith and Carlos were responsible for one of the most recognizable moments in Olympic history, raising their fists in protest on the medals podium at the 1968 Summer Olympics. They have both previously been bestowed with a long list of honors, including induction into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Their exclusion from the USOPC’s hall highlighted the thorny relationship the organization has had with the two sprinters for decades. At the 1968 Games in Mexico City, the USOPC — which was known as the U.S. Olympic Committee until changing its name earlier this year — succumbed to pressure and sent the men home following their controversial protest.
“One could be forgiven for rolling their eyes at the USOC finally — after 51 years — catching up with the rest of the world,” Dave Zirin, the sports columnist for the Nation who co-wrote Carlos’s autobiography, wrote in an email Monday.
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