16 окт 1968 г. - World Champion Sprinters Protest at Olympics on Winners’ Podium

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After winning gold and bronze medals at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City in the 200-meter dash, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos took the moment to protest the injustice taking place in their country. As the Star-Spangled Banner played through the Estadio Olímpico Universitario during the medal ceremony, rather than hold their hands over their hearts, the two men bowed their heads and raised black-gloved fists in a silent protest. Two months after the assassination of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and ongoing protest of U.S involvement in the Vietnam War, Smith and Carlos organized the Olympic Project for Human Rights. The group stood for black pride and social consciousness. Tommie and Carlos viewed the 1968 Olympic games not as simply a platform to show their athletic prowess but as a stage to voice the struggles of a people.

A day later, on October 17, 1968, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) took Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ medals and expelled the two from the Olympic Village for breaching the principles of the Olympic games. Despite their elite athletic performances for their home nation, the two athletes faced ostracization and received death threats when returning home. Public Opinion of their protest was negative and for the most part perceived as militant and a show of disrespect directed toward the American flag and national anthem. Today, Tommie Smith, John Carlos, as well as Peter Norman, are commemorated and praised for their protest for human rights. Even though the man in second place, Peter Norman, did not raise his fist, he still stood with Tommie and John. Peter supplied them with the gloves they wore, as well as wore a badge to show support. These three men went down in history for standing for change despite their popular social stature in America.

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