This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (November 2010) Medal record Tommie Smith (center) and John Carlos (right) showing the Black Power salute in the 1968 Summer Olympics while Silver medalist Peter Norman (left) wears an OPHR badge to show his support for the two Americans. Men's Athletics Competitor for the  United States Olympic Games Gold 1968 Mexico City 200 metres Summer Universiade Gold 1967 Tokyo 200 metres Tommie Smith Date of birth June 6, 1944 (1944-06-06) (age 66) Place of birth Clarksville, TX Position(s) Wide receiver College San Jose State Common Draft 1967 / Round 9 Stats Statistics DatabaseFootball Teams 1969 AFL Cincinnati Bengals For others with a similar name, see Tommy Smith. Tommie Smith (born June 6, 1944)1 is an African American former track & field athlete and wide receiver in the American Football League. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Smith won the 200-meter dash finals in 19.83 seconds – the first time the 20 second barrier was broken. His Black Power salute with John Carlos atop the medal podium caused controversy at the time as it was seen as politicizing the Olympic Games. It remains a symbolic moment in the history of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Recognition 4 See also 5 References 6 External links 6.1 Articles Early life

While attending Lemoore High School, Smith showed great potential, setting most of the school's track records, many of which remain. He won the 440 yard dash in the 1963 CIF California State Meet.2 His achievements won him a scholarship to San Jose State.3 On May 7, 1966, Smith set a world best of 19.5 seconds in the 200 meters and 220 yards in 1966, running on a straight cinder track at San Jose State.4 That "world best" for 200 metres was finally beaten by Tyson Gay on May 16, 2010, just over 44 years later.,5 though Smith still holds the best for the slightly longer 220 yard event. Since the IAAF has abandoned ratifying records for the event, Smith will retain the official record for the straightaway 200 metres/220 yards in perpetuity.6 Smith won the national collegiate 220-yard (201.17 m) title in 1967 before adding the AAU furlong (201.17m) crown as well. He traveled to Japan for the 1967 Summer Universiade and won the 200 m gold medal. He repeated as AAU 200 m champion in 1968 and made the Olympic team. Career In the 1968 Olympic Games at Mexico City, on 16 October, he won the gold medal for the 200 m in a world record time 19.83 s. He and a teammate, John Carlos, who earned the bronze medal, gave a Black Power salute while receiving their medals. Silver medalist Peter Norman, a white Australian, donned a human rights badge on the podium in support of their protest. (See 1968 Olympics Black Power salute.)

Some people (particularly IOC president Avery Brundage) felt that a political statement had no place in the international forum of the Olympic Games. In an immediate response to their actions, Smith and Carlos were suspended from the U.S. team by Brundage and voluntarily moved from the Olympic Village. Brundage, who was president of the United States Olympic Committee in 1936, had made no objections against Nazi salutes during the Berlin Olympics.7 The Nazi salute, being a national salute at the time, was accepted in a competition of nations, while the athletes' salute was not of a nation and so was considered unacceptable.8 People who opposed the protest said the actions disgraced all Americans. Supporters, on the other hand, praised the men for their bravery. The men's gesture had lingering effects for all three athletes, the most serious of which were death threats against Smith, Carlos and their families. During his career, Smith set seven individual world records and also was a member of several world-record relay teams at San Jose State, where he was coached by Lloyd (Bud) Winter. With personal records of 10.1 for 100 meters, 19.83 for 200 and 44.5 for the 400, Smith still ranks high on the world all-time lists. After graduating, Smith played professional football with the Cincinnati Bengals for three years.

After his track career, he became a member of the United States National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1978. In 1996, Smith was inducted into the California Black Sports Hall of Fame, and in 1999 he received that organization's Sportsman of the Millennium Award. In 2000 - 2001 the County of Los Angeles and the State of Texas presented Smith with Commendation, Recognition and Proclamation Awards. He later became a track coach at Oberlin College in Ohio, where he also taught sociology and until recently was a faculty member at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California. With author David Steele, Smith wrote his autobiography, entitled Silent Gesture, published in February 2007 by Temple University Press. In August 2008, Tommie Smith gave 2008 Olympic triple gold winner Usain Bolt of Jamaica one of his shoes from the 1968 Olympics as a birthday gift.9 In 2010, Smith announced that he would sell the gold medal he won at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. He put his gold medal for the 200 meters and spikes up for auction. The bid starts at $250,000, and the sale is scheduled to close November 4, 2010.10 Recognition For his life-long commitment to athletics, education, and human rights following his silent gesture of protest at the '68 Olympics in Mexico City, Smith received the Courage of Conscience Award from The Peace Abbey in Sherborn, Massachusetts.11

In 2005, a statue showing Smith and Carlos on the medal stand (but not Norman, whose silver medal position is vacant) was constructed by political artist Rigo 23 and dedicated on the campus of San Jose State University.12 A mural of the photo taken with Smith on the podium at the 1968 Olympics with Carlos and Norman was painted on the brick wall of a residence in Newtown, New South Wales, Australia, titled "Three Proud People, Mexico, 1968". The mural faces the train tracks linking Sydney city to the Western and Southern Suburbs, and is no longer visible by thousands of commuters every day. Smith, along with Carlos, was a pallbearer at Norman's funeral in Melbourne in 2006.13 On July 16, 2008, John Carlos and Tommie Smith accepted the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage for their salute at the 2008 ESPY Awards held at NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles, California. See also 1968 Olympics Black Power salute Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame Other American Football League players Men's 200 metres world record progression References ^ Silent Gesture: the autobiography of Tommie Smith (2007). Tommie Smith and David Steele. Temple University Press. p42. ^ http://www.dyestatcal.com/ATHLETICS/TRACK/stateres.htm ^ http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/CRsmithT.htm Startacus ^ Tyson Gay aims for Tommie Smith's 44-year-old record . BBC Sport (2010-04-30). Retrieved on 2010-05-03. ^ http://www.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?duid=USATF_2010_05_16_15_12_11 USATF Press release ^ http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/display_article.php?id=43684 Track and Field News ^ "The Olympic Story", editor James E. Churchill, Jr., published 1983 by Grolier Enterprises Inc. ^ "The Olympic Story", editor James E. Churchill, Jr., published 1983 by Grolier Enterprises Inc. ^ puma (August 25, 2008) (– Scholar search), Time To Dance: Usain v Asafa, Puma, http://www.pumarunning.com/#EN/running/content/main/chasingBOLT, retrieved 2008-08-25 dead link ^ "Tommie Smith selling '68 gold medal". espn.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=5682536. Retrieved 14 October 2010.  ^ The Couage of Conscience Award, The Peace Abbey, http://www.peaceabbey.org/awards/cocrecipientlist.html, retrieved 2008-08-22  ^ John Crumpacker (October 18, 2005), OLYMPIC PROTEST: Smith and Carlos Statue captures sprinters' moment, San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2005/10/18/SPGJTF9THS1.DTL, retrieved 2008-08-22  ^ Tovey, Josephine (July 27, 2010). "Last stand for Newtown's 'three proud people'". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/last-stand-for-newtowns-three-proud-people-20100726-10smr.html.  External links Official Tommie Smith website Interview with Tommie Smith Tommie Smith entry at Databaseolympics.com 1968 Olympic 200 Meters Articles Barra, Allan. "Fists Raised, but Not in Anger" The New York Times, August 22, 2008 Thomas, Katie. "For Australian Athletes, a Voice From the Grave" The New York Times May 23, 2008 "In-flight film will urge Olympians to protest", The Daily Telegraph, May 24, 2008 "Norman loses his spot in history", Sporting Life, October 17, 2005 "Norman dies after heart attack", Fox Sports, October 3, 2006 "Peter Norman, man on podium for Black Power salute, dies", USA Today, October 3, 2006 Reed, Ron. "Norman to receive a final salute", The Herald Sun, October 6, 2006 Hoy, Greg. "Fellow athletes pay tribute to Peter Norman", Australian Broadcasting Corporation, October 10, 2006 Blackistone, Kevin B. "'68 protest more than a memory", The Dallas Morning News, August 23, 2008 (Archived original) "Peter Norman dies after heart attack", The Age, October 3, 2006 "Bitter price of Olympics' iconic image", Sydney Morning Herald, October 17, 2003 Wise, Mike. "Clenched Fists, Helping Hand", The Washington Post, October 5, 2006 "Norman Remembered as an Unflinching Champion", The Australian, October 9, 2006 "Carlos, Smith act as pallbearers at funeral of podium mate from 1968 Olympics", MSNBC, October 9, 2006 (Archived original) Rees, Margaret "Australian athlete supported American civil rights struggle", World Socialist Web Site, October 23, 2006 v · d · eOlympic Champions in Men's 200 m

1900: Walter Tewksbury (USA)  · 1904: Archie Hahn (USA)  · 1908: Bobby Kerr (CAN)  · 1912: Ralph Craig (USA)  · 1920: Allen Woodring (USA)  · 1924: Jackson Scholz (USA)  · 1928: Percy Williams (CAN)  · 1932: Eddie Tolan (USA)  · 1936: Jesse Owens (USA)  · 1948: Mel Patton (USA)  · 1952: Andy Stanfield (USA)  · 1956: Bobby Joe Morrow (USA)  · 1960: Livio Berruti (ITA)  · 1964: Henry Carr (USA)  · 1968: Tommie Smith (USA)  · 1972: Valeri Borzov (URS)  · 1976: Don Quarrie (JAM)  · 1980: Pietro Mennea (ITA)  · 1984: Carl Lewis (USA)  · 1988: Joe DeLoach (USA)  · 1992: Michael Marsh (USA)  · 1996: Michael Johnson (USA)  · 2000: Konstantinos Kenteris (GRE)  · 2004: Shawn Crawford (USA)  · 2008: Usain Bolt (JAM) v · d · eSummer Universiade Champions in Men's 200 m  1959: Livio Berruti (ITA)  •  1961: László Mihályfi (HUN)  •  1963 – 1965: Edvins Ozolin (URS)  •  1967: Tommie Smith (USA)  •  1970: Martin Reynolds (GBR)  •  1973 – 1975: Pietro Mennea (ITA)  •  1977: Clancy Edwards (USA)  •  1979: Pietro Mennea (ITA)  •  1981: Yuriy Naumenko (URS)  •  1983: Innocent Egbunike (NGR)  •  1985: Leandro Peñalver (CUB)  •  1987: Wallace Spearmon Sr. (USA)  •  1989: Robson da Silva (BRA)  •  1991: Jon Drummond (USA)  •  1993: Brian Bridgewater (USA)  •  1995: Anthuan Maybank (USA)  •  1997: Gentry Bradley (USA)  •  1999: Coby Miller (USA)  •  2001: Marcin Urbaś (POL)  •  2003 – 2005: Leigh Julius (RSA)  •  2007: Amr Seowd (EGY)  •  2009: Ramil Guliyev (AZE) Persondata Name Smith, Tommie Alternative names Short description Date of birth June 6, 1944 Place of birth Clarksville, TX Date of death Place of death