T
he Olympics have a revered place in
the athletic arena. No other competitive venue compares with it—not the
Super Bowl, the NBA Championship, the Final
Four, or the Masters. After years of grueling
hard work, the best of the best ascend on the
world stage pitting competitor against competitor and nation against nation. And all for
the coveted title of being the best—winning
the Gold, Silver or Bronze medals and being
honored by the playing of the Gold medal
winner’s national anthem.
Rich In history, the Olympics which
began as a celebration of Greek mythology,
first took place in ancient
Greece in 776 B.C. It
ended in 393 A.D. when
the presiding emperor
imposed Christianity
as the state religion in
Rome. Modern day Olympics began in 1896, and were no longer based
in mythology or reserved for Greeks only. The
U.S. entered 14 competitors that year, and the
numbers have steadily climbed ever since.
The first black athlete to compete at
the Olympics was Constantin Henriquez de
Zubiera, who competed for France in 1900.
The first African American to win a medal was
George Coleman Poage in 1904, followed
by John Taylor, the first to win a gold medal
as part of the US relay team in 1908. One of
the most memorable winners was in 1936,
when Jesse Owens proved to Hitler and the
world that the Aryan race was not superior
to Blacks. Owens won 4 gold medals in track
and field in Berlin where the Germans were
favored. In recent years, winners like Dominique Dawes, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Florence
(Flo-Jo) Griffith Joyner, Carl Lewis, and a host
of others were synonymous with the Olympics.
Although the U.S. is accustomed to
leading in the medal count, even to the casual
observer, the 31st Olympiad was special for
African American women who dominated
in traditional and nontraditional sporting
events. It was nearly impossible not to see or
hear about Simone Biles who was crowned
the greatest gymnast in the wo