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
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