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George Dixon-Boxing
George Dixon was the first African American world boxing champion in any weight class, while also being the first ever Canadian-born boxing champion. He claimed the world bantamweight title in 1888 and was officially considered the champion after knocking out Nunc Wallace of England in 18 rounds on June 27, 1890. -
Marshall Taylor-Cycling
Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor was an American cyclist who won the world 1 mile track cycling championship in 1899 after setting numerous world records and overcoming racial discrimination. Taylor was the first African American athlete to achieve the level of world champion and only the second to win a world championship—after Canadian boxer George Dixon. -
John Baxter Taylor- Track & Field
John Baxter "Doc" Taylor, 1908, won a gold medal as part of the 4 x 400 m relay team. Taylor was a member of the gold medal medley relay team at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. He ran the third leg, performing the 400 meters. He followed William Hamilton and Nate Cartmell and was followed by Mel Sheppard. He became the first African American to win an Olympic Gold Medal. -
Jack Johnson-Heavyweight Boxing
Johnson finally won the world heavyweight title on December 26, 1908, a full six years after lightweight champion Joe Gans became the first African American boxing champion. Johnson's victory over the reigning world champion, Tommy Burns, in Sydney, Australia, came after following Burns around the world for two years and taunting him in the press for a match. The fight lasted fourteen rounds before being stopped by the police in front of over 20,000 spectators. The title was awarded to Johnson. -
Fritz Pollard-Footbal Coach
Pollard graduated from Lane Tech high school in Chicago where he ran track. Pollard played college football at Brown University, graduating in 1919. He played in the 1916 Rose Bowl. He played in professional football in Akron and several other teams before becoming a Coach /Player in 1922. -
Dehart Hubbard- Long Jump
Won the long jump at the 1924 Olympics, becoming the first black athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event; set the long jump world record in 1925 (25-103/4) and tied the 100-yard dash record (9.6) in 1926. -
Jackie Robinson-Baseball
Jackie Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. As the first black man to play in the major leagues since the 1880s, he was instrumental in bringing an end to racial segregation in professional baseball, which had relegated black players to the Negro leagues for six decades. -
Earl Lloyd-Basketball
Drafted in the same year as Chuck Cooper, Lloyd was the first African American to play in an NBA game, against the Rochester Royals. The Capitols lost, 78-70. -
Althea Gibson- Tennis
Althea Gibson became the first African American to play in and win Wimbledon and the United States national tennis championship. She won both tournaments twice, in 1957 and 1958. In all, Gibson won 56 tournaments, including five Grand Slam singles events. She is sometimes referred to as "the Jackie Robinson of tennis" for breaking the color barrier. -
Willie O'Ree-Hockey
Willie O'ree is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, known best for being the first black player in the National Hockey League. O'Ree played as a winger for the Boston Bruins. O'Ree is referred to as the "Jackie Robinson of ice hockey" due to breaking the colour barrier in the sport, and has stated publicly that he had met Jackie Robinson twice in his own younger years. -
Ernie Davis-College Football
Ernie Davis was an American football running back and the first African-American athlete to win the Heisman Trophy. Wearing number 44, Davis competed collegiately for Syracuse University before being drafted by the Washington Redskins, then almost immediately traded to the Cleveland Browns in December 1961. However, he would never play a professional game, as he was diagnosed with leukemia in 1962.Legend of Ernie Davis -
Women's National Basketball Association
In June 1997, the NBA formed the eight-team WNBA. Former U.S. Olympic African-American standouts Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks) and Sheryl Swoopes (Houston Comets) helped to popularize the league. Swoopes is the first woman to have an athletic shoe named after her "Air Swoopes." This is a big event in the histoy of African American Sports. Jenny Toler's take on the WNBA
