Tommie Smith

1968 Olympic 200m champion, Black Power salute.

Tommie Smith was born on 6 June 1944 in Clarksville, Texas, the seventh of twelve children of sharecropper parents, and earned an athletic scholarship to San Jose State College, where he set individual world records across multiple sprint distances. Smith delivered the defining athletic performance of his career at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, winning the 200m in a world record time of 19.83 seconds, becoming the first man to officially break the 20-second barrier for the distance, a record that stood for nearly 11 years. At the medal ceremony, Smith and bronze medallist John Carlos each raised a black-gloved fist during the American national anthem, a silent protest against racial injustice in the United States that became one of the most iconic and consequential images in Olympic history, resulting in their expulsion from the Olympic Village. Smith went on to play professional football with the Cincinnati Bengals, and earned a master's degree in social change from Goddard College before becoming a track coach and sociology professor at Oberlin College. He was inducted into the U.S. National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1978, and published his autobiography, "Silent Gesture," in 2007, remaining one of the most significant figures in the history of athlete activism.

Explosive sprinter with exceptional 200m technique

Civil rights activism through sport, broke racial barriers in athletics

• 1968 Olympic gold 200m