Famous Olympic sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos will be inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame.
What We Know:
- Tommie Smith (75) and John Carlos (74) were sprinters in the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games. The two received their medals and held gloved fists into the air, while the “Star-Spangled Banner” was playing.
- Since then, the two men have not only become a significant part of Black history but, they were also shunned from the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC). The league has been trying for years to get the two athletes back in.
- The duo will be apart of the 2019 U.S. Olympics and Paralympic Hall of Fame class that will be inducted in Colorado Springs on November 1. This will be the first class to be inducted since 2012.
- Along with Smith and Carlos, the remainder of the class will include: swimmers, Candace Cable, Erin Popovich, and Dana Torres; sit-skier Chris Waddell, WNBA player Lisa Leslie, gymnast Misty May-Treanor, speed skater Apollo Ohno, the 1998 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team, diving coach Ron O’Brien and the “Father of Accessibility” Timothy Nugent.
Congratulations to the successful black duo and the entire class!
