Tommie Smith
FameRank: 4

"American Football League/AFL" Cincinnati Bengals

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"Tommie Smith" is an American former track and field/track & field athlete and wide receiver in the American Football League. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Smith won the 200-meter dash finals and gold medal in 19.83 seconds – the first time the 20-second barrier was broken legally. His 1968 Olympics Black Power salute/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 American Civil Rights Movement.

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I would not miss an opportunity like this to work with kids for nothing in the world. I flew in from Atlanta for this.

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It wasn't done for a malignant reason. It was only done to bring attention to the atrocities of which we were experiencing in a country that was supposed to represent us.

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I had to get myself in the world's eye to make my statement.

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I had no regrets, I have no regrets, I will never have any regrets. We were there to stand up for human rights and to stand up for black Americans. We wanted to make them better in the United States.

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