such an influence on society that Nelson Mandela was able to use the sport rugby to help dismantle the apartheid system in South Africa. Mandela has once said “Sports has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a ways that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sports can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than…
1960s saw The Black Civil Rights Movement as a dominant and visible group in America. Martin Luther King Junior was leading the way in challenging and working towards changing the manner in which Black African Americans were treated in the United States. The Movement was making good progress until the late 1960s where the appearance of black radical groups started to emerge and began to cause inter-racial riots between black and white Americans in the streets of America. At the time of the…
was the Olympics gold medalist in the 1968 Olympic games which was held in Mexico City that year. Smith smashed the world record with a time of 19.8 seconds. His teammate John Carlos won the bronze that same year and competition. Both Carlos and Smith were part of an organization called the Olympic Project for Human Right or otherwise known as the OPHR. The founder of the organizations was a sociologist and college professor, Harry Edwards. Tommie Smith was one of the original members that…
During a time when black people in America were fighting against racial discrimination, Tommie Smith and John Carlos took a stand that many viewed as black power radicalism. While standing on the 1968 Mexico City Olympic podium, during the National Anthem, the two men quietly bowed their heads and each raised their black glove colored fist. Immediately, this action raised awareness towards black rights. By the time of the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, the United States had gone through…
The Olympics have been riddled with political protests and violence ever since their creation in 1898. Consistent racial, political, and religious protests occur at the games and hinder the competition. The United States has even gone as far as boycotting the 1980 games in Moscow. In 1984 the Soviet Union boycotted the games in LA. In the 1972 Munich games 11 Israeli athletes were kidnapped and slaughtered just because of their religion. In the 1968 Mexico City Olympic games Tommie Smith and…
the 1960s Olympics “Bang”! The runners jump off their blocks from the start and begin to pick up lightning speed. Faster and faster, one runner breaks away, and you hear the crowd roar with excitement when the runner gets closer and closer to crossing the finish line with a new world record. The Olympics has become an amazing way to showcase worldwide competition while putting political and social issues aside. Although, not every Olympics has run as smoothly by the host country as they would…
It has impacted the world by becoming a popular international sport and the United States then, by giving us Americans, the gold and silver medals at the Summer Olympic games and now by allowing ou Olympic team to continue the quest for gold at the 2020 Tokyo games. We are very proud of the phenomenal athletes past and present, for their dedication, hard work and perseverance. The game of softball has acquired several historical players over the years, such as the amazing Olympic gold and silver…
Suzy Favor Hamilton: Running Through Life with Mental Illness Millions of people watched the Summer Olympics of 2000, and many remember the point where Suzy Favor Hamilton collapsed to the track on her last lap. It was publicized that dehydration caused her to fall, but the truth came out years later. Suzy Favor Hamilton led a double life unbeknownst to herself and others, running from mental illness in many forms. She is a three time Olympian, a mother, a wife, on the New York Times best seller…
Gabby was a little girl she has always had a strong passion for gymnastics, and through years of vigorious training, and hard work she made the 2012 Olympic team. Gabby Douglas has had a very successful gymnastics career, but most people only know about her major accomplishments in the 2012 Olympics. Most people do not know about her achievements in her early life, her junior career, or even her senior career as gymnast.…
Olympic drug testing is one way of finding out if the athletes really did work their hardest to achieve where they are on that day. Although Lance Armstrong and Ben Johnson may have good reason, all team members should be drug tested in order to compete in the Olympic games because new rules for anti-doping have been made, and once local athletes test positive for performance enhancing drugs, they should start thinking of new lives as codes seem to have nothing in place for them. Lance…