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10 Most Famous Black Athletes in History

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Jackie Robinson thegrio.com

In this text, we are going to give attention to 10 individuals whose excellence brought them fame and altered their sports without end.

What sporting achievements do you’ll want to achieve to go down in history?

Notable black athletes make sports history by playing a key role in winning a championship, breaking a record, or being the primary to realize something in their sport. Some athletes use their platforms to make political or social statements or to drive advocacy, which can even help establish an athlete’s legacy.

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Famous Black Athletes Who Changed the History of Their Sport

Get to know 10 famous black athletes and their biggest achievements, and you’ll understand why their names are so famous.

Simone Biles

Simone Biles competes in the course of the freestyle exercise on the fourth day of qualifying for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team at Target Center on June 30, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

With 37 Olympic and World Championship medals to her name, Simone Biles is probably the most decorated gymnast in history and, by most accounts, the best gymnast of all time. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Biles became the primary American gymnast to win 4 gold medals in a single Olympics. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the long-lasting black gymnast made headlines again, this time for withdrawing from competition to give attention to her well-being, drawing worldwide attention to the importance of mental health for athletes, for which she is a powerful advocate.

Stephen Curry

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry reacts after his victory over Sabrina Ionescu in the course of the NBA All-Star Weekend, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Son former NBA playerStephen “Steph” Curry has basketball in his blood. Curry, a degree guard for the Golden State Warriors, is one of the crucial famous black American basketball players and probably the greatest shooters in the history of the sport. His long-range shooting skills not only earned him multiple NBA three-point shooting records and other awards. They modified the sport significantly, placing greater emphasis on long-range shooting. He’s also a extremely good golfer, and played a significant role in the revival of the Howard University golf team.

Jackie Robinson

Baseball player Jackie Robinson, thegrio.com, famous black athletes
Jackie Robinson, the primary black man to be signed by a Major League Baseball team, is shown in a post-strike stance in front of the stands. Robinson is wearing the uniform of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ then-affiliate Montreal Royals. (Getty Images)

Jackie Robinson made history when he stepped onto the sphere for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, becoming the primary black man to play in the trendy era of MLB. Robinson was an elite athlete, winning Rookie of the Year honors in his first season. His legacy as a civil rights advocate and athlete earned him the number 42 retired by all MLB teams.

Colin Kaepernick

Colin Kaepernick, thegrio.com, famous black athletes
Colin Kaepernick takes part in a halftime throwdown in the course of the Michigan Spring American Football game at Michigan Stadium on April 2, 2022 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Jaime Crawford/Getty Images)

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick stands out amongst famous black athletes for his resume. His profession highlights include leading his team to the Super Bowl and setting an NFL record for single-game rushing yards by a quarterback. But he’s best known for his actions off the sphere. Kaepernick began kneeling in the course of the national anthem before NFL games to protest police brutality and racial inequality. His activism has not only sparked a movement and brought attention to those issues. It has also earned him Citizen of the Year 2017 in keeping with GQ magazine and the Sports Illustrated Muhammad Ali Legacy Awards.

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali Unveils His New Book, thegrio.com, Famous Black Athletes
American skilled boxer, activist and philanthropist Muhammad Ali (1942–2016) attends a press conference to launch his recent autobiographical book, The Greatest: My Own Story, on March 10, 1976, at The Savoy Hotel in London, United Kingdom. (Photo: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Muhammad Ali is one of the crucial famous black athletes in sports history. His boxing profession began with a bang — a gold medal in the sunshine heavyweight division on the 1960 Olympics — and included several iconic fights, including the “Rumble in the Jungle” with George Foreman and the “Thrilla in Manila” with Joe Frazier. Ali also made headlines for his peace and civil rights activism, even refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military because he opposed the Vietnam War.

Jesse Owens

Jumping Jesse, thegrio.com, famous black athletes
August 15, 1936: American athlete Jesse Owens competes in the long jump in the course of the USA vs. British Empire track and field meet at White City Stadium in west London. (Photo: Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) – Source: Photo Central Press / Getty Images

Jesse Owens was a black track and field athlete and long jumper known for his victories on the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He followed in the footsteps of George Poage, the primary African-American to win a medal on the Olympics, taking home two bronze medals on the 1904 Games in St. Louis. Two many years later, Owens won 4 gold medals, making him probably the most decorated athlete on the Games and a counternarrative to Adolf Hitler’s Aryan supremacist beliefs. Despite his Olympic success, Owens faced racial discrimination in the United States, was not invited to the White House, and struggled to secure sponsorship deals. Still, he persevered and built a fame as a sports and civil rights icon despite the chances.

Florence Griffith Joyner

Florence Griffith Joyner, Flo Jo, thegrio.com, famous black athletes
In this 1988 photo, American sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner of Los Angeles races for a world record in the ladies’s 200-meter Olympic semifinals in Seoul. Once again, the late Joyner’s hallowed women’s sprint records of 10.49 in the 100 and 21.34 in the 200 look like in jeopardy. (Photo by Lennox McLendon/AP, archive)

Florence Griffith Joyner, higher often known as Flo-Jo, is the fastest woman of all time, having set world records in the 100- and 200-meter sprints on the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials and still unbeaten. A task model for African-American female athletes, she won three gold medals and one silver medal on the Olympic Games that very same 12 months. In addition to being a unprecedented runner, Flo-Jo is often known as a mode icon, wearing daring, one-legged racing suits and sporting long, painted nails.

Naomi Osaka

Japan’s Naomi Osaka serves against Italian Lucia Bronzetti during their first-round match on the French Open tennis tournament on the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Sunday, May 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Naomi Osaka is a Japanese-Haitian tennis player who was born in Japan, raised in the United States, and selected to play for the Japanese Olympic team, which was met with criticism. With 4 Grand Slam singles titles, two US Open titles, and two Australian Open titles, she won her first US Open on the age of just 20, defeating 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams and becoming the primary Asian woman to be ranked No. 1 in the world. Osaka became the primary tennis player to light the Olympic flame on the opening ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, confirming her position because the leading celebrity black female athlete.

Serena Williams

Tennis star Serena Williams holds a tennis ball while preparing for a serve, thegrio.com, famous black athletes
Serena Williams of the United States serves against Nuria Parrizas Diaz of Spain in the course of the National Bank Open tournament, a part of the Hologic WTA Tour, at Sobeys Stadium on August 8, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)

Serena Williams is widely considered one among the best female athletes of all time. The retired tennis player has 23 Grand Slam singles titles to her name, probably the most in the Open era and the second most in history. She can be the one player to win a profession Golden Slam — winning all 4 Grand Slam tournaments and an Olympic gold medal — in each singles and doubles. Since retiring from the sport, Williams has develop into an entrepreneur, dressmaker and philanthropist, often involved in education and community development.

Coconut gauff

Olympic Games Paris 2024 - Announcements
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 24: Coco Gauff of Team USA trains during a tennis training session ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Roland Garros on July 24, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) – Source: Photo Clive Brunskill / Getty Images

Young tennis player Coco Gauff made her Olympic debut in Paris after missing the 2020 Tokyo Games resulting from illness. She defeated Venus Williams in her Wimbledon debut at just 15 years old. With seven singles titles under her belt, including the 2023 US Open, and nine doubles titles by the age of 20, Gauff is one among our rising stars amongst black athletes.

Stay up up to now with history and the most recent sports news

The above list is just the tip of the iceberg in relation to recognizing the best black athletes in history. There are many other famous black athletes who dominate their sports. Stay up up to now with the most recent sports news, and who knows? You might witness one other black pioneer set a record or set a brand new standard in their sport.

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com

Sports

Jalen Milroe can follow the Jalen path in NFL

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Star Black playmakers aren’t any longer an exception – they’re the rule. Throughout the entire football season, this series will discover the importance and influence of black QB from bottom -up to NFL.


Indianapolis-keep me, should you heard it earlier: playmaker Alabama born in Texas, who’s a stronger runner than a passerby, will probably be called outside the first round of the NFL Draft.

The playmaker was undefeated in Sec as a primary -year starter.

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The playmaker never played for the same offensive coordinator.

The name of the playmaker is even Jalen.

But it isn’t clear that Jalen hurts. This winter he was busy winning the Super Bowl MVP, and he didn’t play Iron Bowl or against Michigan.

Instead, it’s a former playmaker of Crimson Tide Jalen Milroewho last week Combine Combine tried to convey the case to the trainers and evaluators that he – like his namesake – is price being their playmaker franchise in the future despite questions on his ability.

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“I went through adversity. I saw everything as a quarterback, “Milroe said on Friday. “I played at the most difficult conference in the country. It would be easier to play at other conferences, but what I could see in Sec catapulted me that I was ready to play NFL. “

Alabama, Jalen Milroe, talks to the media during the NFL mix at the Lucas Oil stadium on February 28 at Indianapolis.

Justin Casterline/Getty Images

Departing from Katy in Texas, she originally got involved in Texas in 2019, but a 12 months later she fell to Alabama. After he was sitting behind the Crimson Tide Starter Bryung for 2 seasons, Milroe took his reins in the 2023 season. He helped Alabama survive Sec (8-0) this 12 months, won by the conference rival and two-time defender Georgia in the SEC championship, which caused Crimson Tide to the play-off collection.

But while Milroe had a big arm (his 10 yards for the test took third place in Sec in 2023), the pass was not his strong suit. For two seasons as a starter Milroe never achieved 3000 yards in one season, the first starter of Alabama, who did it because it … hurts.

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Hurts, from Houston, led Crimson Tide to the National National Championships in 2016–17, but during these two seasons were lower than 5,000 yards. While Hurts was a singular Rusher (1,809 yards and 21 sticks) at the moment, his weakness as a passerby is known for led to the spare Tua Tavailoa during the break of the national championships in 2017.

In the mix, Milroe decided that despite his pedestrian passes, he was still worthy of being a start at NFL.

He is aware of his weaknesses and swore that he worked in the ass to enhance outside being “one dimension.” He could move when his legendary trainer, Nick Saban, retired after the 2023 season, but decided to not fall off. He traveled six miles a day to ensure that that something was left in the fourth quarter in the fourth quarter. He studied progression and reads after I-SNAP to lift his IQ in football.

Unlike the forecast sorts of the first round, Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, Milroe threw a mix on Saturday, hoping that he would show the bands that he has mechanics to do that to the playmaker NFL. It turned out to be a mixed bag. Milroe showed strong arm strength and a very good location of sail routes, curls and it while throwing exercises, but fought accuracy on intermediate and on the routes.

“That’s so many things that I can learn more where I am today and where I will be when it comes to day 1, starting with NFL,” said Milroe before Saturday exercises. “Always be a game student, at all times attempt to develop, because it would be so many opportunities in which I can look back and say that it was the moment after I grew up as a playmaker.

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“That’s right now, I’m just trying to grow as much as possible, put my best foot forward and just look for development.”

Jalen Milroe warms up during seniors training at the Hancock Whitney stadium on January 29 at Mobile, Alabama.

Derick E. Hingle/Getty Images

Milroe was asked that he was one other playmaker in Alabama to succeed in the mix, following in the footsteps of the role (who moved to Oklahoma in 2019), Tavailoa, Mac Jones and Bryce Young. Milroe said he appreciates being in the company of others, but he added that it’s difficult to check him with others.

“We had different bands, we had different players around us, we had a different system,” he said.

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But when he specifically asked what he could study the journey of Hurts-from the first manager of the game after the super Bowl-Milroe master said he inspired him his companion Alabam.

“The most important thing I learned from J. Hurts is how he kept his head (I) always continued to work,” said Milroe. “He at all times raised his game, he has never been self -deserved, and all the pieces you see is great progress from him.

“And I have to applaud him as a person, he as a man, because he is definitely inspiring for many playmakers of my image, as well as many playmakers throughout the country. He leads to all of us. “

The couple isn’t completely similar. Hurts had about 20 kilos on Milroe when he was in college. Milroe has a stronger arm, while Hurts played more and not using a mistake of football: Milroe threw 17 interceptions and ate 67 bags for 2 seasons as a starter in comparison with 10 captures Hurts and 43 bags.

But they can each be changing the game when their teams need them. In a highly publicized match against Georgia at the starting of the last season, Milroe finished almost 82% of his passes on 374 yards and two appointments, adding 117 yards to the ground for the next two results.

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Milroe can also match the wounds in the so -called “Jalen-ISMS. “

“Climbing upstairs is not easy, but when you reach the top of this mountain, you will learn so many things when it comes to adversity when it comes to difficulties, things along the way,” said Milroe in a mix.

Martenzie Johnson is an older author for Andcape. His favorite film moment is that Django said: “You all want to see something?”

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This article was originally published on : andscape.com
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Like Tommie Smith and John Carlos from 1968. Black Power Salute inspired me to find my goal

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I’d say that I grew up within the household to be sure that that me and my siblings were aware of the black history. My parents invested in the gathering of black encyclopedias. On the duvet we had a version of the Bible with Black Jesus. Our house was stuffed with books of black novelists and thinkers, and if a black document appeared, we watched it. I watched all movies made on television about Dr. King, each “Roots” and “Alex Haley’s Queen” and I sat for all 14 hours “Eyes on the reward”-as a toddler. Bless my heart.

Having said this, there have been pockets of black history, and more likely that I had no opportunity to delve into once I was a toddler. The college was where all the will for information and understanding of the combined. I attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., One of a very powerful historically black universities within the country. It was there that I met people from around the globe whose knowledge about black history differed (often depending on the colleges and the communities by which we lived), but everyone had hunger to learn more.

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One day, through the first yr, I remember one among my friends in a T -shirt by which I had definitely seen before, but I never paid attention to. There was a black and white screen printing on the shirt (what I do know now) the enduring moment on the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968, where on the rostrum for 200-meter medals, Tommie Smith, John Carlos (races 1. And 3. Place Finaners) Everyone gathered a black fist in gloves while he played “Star Spangled Banner”. Peter Norman, the second place from Australia, wore a human rights badge, like Smith and Carlos.

Not only did they raise the fist of black power (although they each said it was for human rights), they received medals in black socks to represent poverty within the black community, and Smith wore a black scarf for black pride. Carlos showed solidarity with blue-wheeled employees, unpacking the jacket and wore a necklace from the beads for individuals who were lynched. Due to the state of Black America in 1968 and a continuing struggle for equality and civil rights, there have been calls to a boycott of the Games. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was also killed in April this yr – and all three athletes were inspired enough to find a way to do it on the rostrum, which led to one of the crucial durable images of public protest.

I remember how I learned history and realized that on the most important scene these brave men used their moment of triumph and victory to quietly protest against the conditions of underrated communities in America. I felt strengthened; We often discuss standing on the arms of giants, however the more I got into the history of black in America, the more I spotted what number of giants there have been. In college I used to be very bad and for a while ready to burn every part that represented the establishment or any obstacle to black liberation. I felt like all those individuals who even saw their space on the planet in reference to individuals who could never give you the option to speak as heroes whose lives were to be modeled later. Especially since it was also fastidiously that putting people in front of him can often bring an enormous personal loss.

When Smith and Carlos took their position, they were booed on the stadium and ordered to be sent home by the International Olympic Committee. The athletes returned home, but they weren’t welcomed by the hero, but as a substitute of rough sleds, and even in some cases the specter of death. They were also not beloved by athletes. Two men, associated eternally in history, even have a good relationship –Carlos even claims that he let Smith go within the race Because “Tommie Smith would never put his fist in the sky if I won this race,” the claim that Smith denies.

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History ultimately has a way of rights, but it surely took a few years and realizations on the front of social policy, in order that the actions of those persons are perceived as brave and needed, not only selfish and smug.

The lessons that I learned from College and continuous reading and education I gained (my head remained within the book about black history) were one among the best advantages in HBCU. The very variety of books I learned about about which I actually have never heard of – I actually have upheld me all my life.

That is why I remember sooner or later I used to be walking around Washington, the eastern Washington market and a street seller was selling different photos of moments in black history, and he had a 40 -inch photo within the Tommie Smith and John Carlos frame. I paid for it in money and spent it across the capital of the country until I returned home. I do know that it happened in 2005 (I finished Morehouse College in 2001) because I just moved to my first apartment with no roommate and it was the very first thing that I actually have ever suspended on the wall. This picture within the frame still hangs on the wall in my home in 2025 and I used it to teach my children about sacrifice and privilege and how you may have to discuss individuals who cannot.

Teenage students of Stax Music Academy Mark 25th anniversary, black history month with a concert

The query that my youngest children often ask: “How do I know who can’t speak for herself?” Which is an incredible query. For this I answered an easy fact, pointing to the photo:

“These men have made a gesture that gave people whose most of us, including them, would never see or never know them, but on which life negatively affects the alternatives of the wealthy and the federal government. Sometimes you may have to take this chance to say something because you do not know in the event you’ll ever have such a big platform.

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Son, there may be at all times someone who cannot speak for himself, and you may have to use it in a voice, because perhaps the thing you say or a stand that can help someone you understand, live a greater life. ”

I take advantage of words that may understand a little bit higher, but I can inform you that my children have a look at this photo on a regular basis, and once one among my sons said: “These guys are heroes, right?”

I say yes, they’re. They are the heroes of the Black History.

They will live eternally for speaking, and even quietly, in solidarity with those that couldn’t.

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Panama Jackson Thegrio.com

(Tagstranslate) @Ap

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Main Treasury Official Morgan State University, Sterling Steward, died

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Morgan State University, Sterling Steward


Morgan State University announced that his older associate athletics director and tax director, Sterling Steward, died.

No reason for death was disclosed, but the college has confirmed his contribution since he was employed in December 2022.

Steward died on February 26. In Morgan State he was accountable for the event of university programs, supporting partnerships and strengthening the financial and operational success of the Faculty.

“Sterling was more than a colleague-he was a respected leader, mentor and friend,” said in a written statement by Den Freeman-Patton, vice chairman and director of inter-university athletes. “His passion for athletics and commitment to raising Morgan programs were visible in everything he did. He worked tirelessly to ensure that our sports students had resources and the possibilities of distinction, and its impact will be felt for many years. We expand our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones, especially his three sons and sister when we mourn this huge loss. “

While the steward worked in Morgan, strategic growth and cooperation occurred. His work with the institutional development department helped to offer more opportunities and created lasting relationships to support sports programs.

Steward earlier he worked At the University of New Orleans (UNO) as an assistant to the college athletics director for strategic income generation. He also made stays on the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Savannah State University, Mississippi Valley State University, Alabama State University, Kentucky State University, Eastern Oregon University and Xavier University in various roles, including for a senior consultant athletics director and sports director.

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He was from New Orleans, who received the title of bachelor and master’s degree on the University of Southern Mississippi. He won a bachelor’s degree in the sphere of coaching and administration/history of sport and his master’s degree in the sphere of sport management.

(Tagstransate) Morgan State Universiry

This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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