-
George Poage
George Poage was the first black athlete to participate in the olympic games winning two bronze metals. We was also the first black athlete to run for University of Wisconsin specializing in sprints and hurdles. -
Jack Johnson
The "Galveston Giant" knocked out Tommy Burns to become the first black heavy weight champion. Jack was able to defend his title 17 times and held his belt for 2,151 days which is the third longest in the 60 year long history for African American heavyweight titles. -
Sherman Maxwell
Maxwell also known as "Jocko" reportedly began his broadcasting career in 1929 at the age of 22 when he began doing a five-minute weekly sports report on WNJR, a radio station based in Newark NJ. He was able to pave the way for current sports broadcasters such as Stephen A Smith, and Cris Carter . -
Alice Coachman
In the ’48 Summer Olympics, Coachman soared 5 ft, six and an eighth inches into the air on her first try. Not only was she the first black woman ever to win gold, she was the only American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics that year. Coachman also ran the indoor and outdoor 50 m dash and the outdoor 100 m dash. In addition, she competed on the national champion 4 x 100-meter relay team. -
Willie Thrower
NFL's first African-American quarterback when he appeared in a game for the Chicago Bears on Oct. 18, 1953. After that he never appeared in another game and it would be 15 years before another African-American quarterback would take a snap in a pro game. He paved the way for future black quarterbacks like Warren Moon, Michael Vick and Cam Newton -
Wayne Embry
After retiring as a basketball player he became the first African American NBA general manager, managing Milwaukee Bucks, the Cleveland Cavaliers (1986–1999), and Toronto Raptors (2006). He was selected NBA Executive of the Year in 1992 and 1998. -
Jayne Kennedy
she was one of the first women to infiltrate the male-dominated world of sports announcing with a role as a co- anchor on CBS "The NFL Today show". She destroyed the myth that women could not make it in the world of broadcasting. Her triumph help lead the way for people like Robin Roberts and Pam Oliver -
Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan is the only NBA player to sign a contract worth over thirty million dollars in a season. During the 1997–1998 season, Jordan earned $33 million. Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was considered instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s. -
Usain Bolt
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt became the fastest man in the world at the Berlin Athletics World Championships. At just 22, he smashed his own 100m world record he set at the Beijing Olympics a year earlier by crossing the line at an incredible 9.58 seconds, the biggest margin of improvement since electronic timing began. Then he broke the 200m record a few days later with 19.19 seconds. He is the first man to hold the World and Olympic 100m and 200m records at the same time. -
Gabrielle Christina Victoria "Gabby" Douglas
As a member of the U.S. Women's Gymnastics team at the 2012 Summer Olympics, she won gold medals in both the individual and team all-around competitions. Douglas is the first woman of color and the first African-American gymnast.