oct 16, 1968 - Mexico City Olympics
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There were a series of protest actions at the Mexico City Olympics. The most famous perhaps is Tommie Smith and John Carlos' black power salute as they were being awarded for the men's 200 m race. Their raised fists were not their only visual cues. They wore black socks, with no shoes to signify black poverty. The black scarf on Smith's neck was meant to signify lynchings. And of course, their gloved fists represented black unity and black power. Smith, Carlos, and Peter Norman all wore OPHR pins on their jackets. ]
At the 400-meter dash, Lee Evans wore a black beret and did the black power salute. However, he also received backlash because he took off his hat for the American National Anthem.
The Harvard Rowing team (there the U.S. Rowing Team) still showed their support of OPHR.
Vera Caslavska, a Czech gymnast turned down her head when she was forced to share her gold medal with the gymnast from the Soviet Union and listen to the Soviet Anthem play. It was also in protest of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union just two months before.
Almost all of these athletes faced dire consequences when they returned home, and they were not allowed to participate in athletics to the degree that they had done so ever again.
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