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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 1984)
Black Americans in Olympic History Once again, the sports iportlight, indeed the international focus, turn* to the Olympics. with the I9K4 renewal o f the celebrated quadrennial sports spectacular scheduled for Los Angeles, in July and August, marking the second time in history that the Big Games have been held on American soil. A n Olympic Year is a time for celebration, but it also is time for reflec tion and reassessment; a time to look back and review our progress, troubles, and triumphs o f the past, and a time to contemplate on the un charted future as we seek new triumphs and new achievements in world medals and gold memories. They simply fade from the picture when the headlines fade In this article, we have tried to locale some of the Olympic champions, es pecially the gold medal winners; to find out how the O lym pic movement helped ar hurt their endeavors, and whether or not the Olympics helped them down a path o f achievement and success. To some, it has been a lodestar; to others it ha* been a series o f problem*, but generally there have been gains for most in the post-Olympic period. class competition. Few persons are around who remember the colorful and impressive open ing ceremony in Los Angeles in 1932 as the great white-robed chorus sang the stirring strains o f "T h e Star Spangled Banner" and a dazzling stream of O lym p ic athletes from around the w orld debouched from a tunnel and spread over the green tu rf o f the big bowl while spectators cheered them selves hoarse. Vice President Charles Curtis read the Olympic oath and cited the spirit of the Olympics and the Big Games were under way. The Olympics in 1932 were staged in the immediate wake o f the stock market crash as the nation struggled to recover from the worse economic depression in it* history. It, too, was a time when disaster, labor problems, joblessness, and irrational behavior patterns among the rich and the poor dominated the news. It also was a time in United States history when segre gation reigned in grand style unashamedly and, in some states, legally It was in that atmosphere that the first Black to win an Olympic championship on American soil broke into history. He was Eddie Tolan, who captured gold medals in both Olympic sprints, the 100 and 200 meters. Trials and triumphs have marked the remarkable and historic participa tion o f Black men and women athletes down through Olympic history since George C . Poage won bronze medals at the 1904 Olympics in the 200 and 400 meter hurdles. W inning a gold medal in the Olympic Games is the highest award an am a teur athlete can obtain. W inning that gold medal is not easy. It climaxes years o f preparation and preliminary contests prior to the one big event which comes every four years. Hundreds of gold medals have been won in many different events. To some winners, winning the Olympics marks the start o f a new career as a professional where the rewards are riches and more fame. This has happened to some Black athletes who were gold medal winners, mainly in one athletic event— boxing. Others have returned to their earlier pursuits, seeking degrees in the schools they previously attended or following a pre viously-sought profession, and still others, applauded by their peers for their accomplishments, found rich rewards in business. Many Blacks have competed in events that have no future professionally, and once the Olympics end, numerous Black winners wind up with gold The incomparable Jesse Owens who shocked Adolph Hitler with his as tounding victories, never made the fortune less famous Olympian winners made, but posthumously he gained respect in the Alabam a town in which he was born when citizens erected a m onum ent honoring Jesse as its most prominent citizen. And even in that instance, Jesse Owens had troubles as a political battle developed over where the monument honoring him should be located. Some o f the old southern-spirited citizens opposed the location o f the Owens monument on city hall property in O akville, Alabama This was ironic because the name of Jesse Owens is hammered deep in bronze, embedded in the stone M arathon Gate o f the Berlin Stadium, and it appears there more often, even than that o f Hitler. The feats o f Owens were almost without parallel in Olympic history. Certainly no individual ever so completely dominated the scene as did the great sprinter from O hio State University. He won three individual events— 100 and 2000 meters and the broad jum p— and ran a decisive lap on the vic torious American relay team, thus taking home four first place medals and four o f the tiny potted German oak trees that the Organizing Committee had provided the winners as living memorials o f their triumphs. He broke the Olympic and world record in the 100 meters, though it was disallowed because o f a following wind; he set a new Olympic and world record for 200 meters around a turn; and he broad jumped over 26 feet for the first time in Olympic history— another record. And to lop all that, the 400-meter relay team of which he was the anchor runner set a new Olympic and world rec ord for the event Owens came home to America amid the tumult and the shouting of admirers but he never did latch on to a topflight job. He ran in exhibition races, spoke at clinics; served as salesman for sporting good outlets and helped sell Olympic coins, but the real gold— the spending kind— never got into his hands as it had for many Olympic winners. The late Ralph Metcalfe, one of a galaxy o f stars who were on the same Olympic team with Jesse Owens, twice finished second in the Olympics, be hind Eddie Tolan in Los Angeles in 1932 and behind Owens in Berlin in 1936. Metcalfe, who won a gold medal as a member o f the victorious relay team in 1936, became a congressman from Chicago. One of the standout Olympic double winners who is still connected with the Olympic movement is M arvin G. (M a ll W hitfield, who since 1964 has served as a regional youth and sports officer working in Africa for the U S. Inform ation Agency. Last spring, W hitfield returned to the United States for a special ceremony at the Jesse Owens Track and Field Classic held at O hio State annually M ai was inducted into the O hio Track and Field Hall o f Fame at the ceremony. Jaaaa Owens of Ohio State end Ralph Metcalfe of Marquette U. Stellar performer* at the 1932 and 1938 gamea. W hitfield won two Olympic gold medals (800-meter run and 1600-meter relay) in Helsinki in 1952. A middle-distance runner on both indoor and outdoor tracks, W hitfield broke IK world records during his racing career. A native o f California, W hitfield also attended Los Angeles State College During his 20-year career with US1A, W hitfield has trained young ath letes throughout Africa, promoted U S.-A frican sports exchanges, and sought recognition of outstanding African athletes and programs— imparl ing at the same time a positive image of American sportsmanship and alh letic prowess. Even in those countries without close ties to the United States, The Champion Jumpers Bob Beamon 1968 Olym pic Gold World Record holder Greg Bell 1966 Olym pic Gold SAFEWAY Relph Boston 1960 Olympic Gold Arnie Robinson 1976 Olympic Gold Portland Observer, February 22, 1984, Section II Page MS» M h.
