Olympic and world heptathlon champion Nafissatou Thiam was born in Namur, Belgium, 43 mile southeast of Brussels, on August 19, 1994, one of the four children of Bamba Thiam, a native of Senegal who worked as a sculptor and painter, and Belgian citizen Danièle Denisty … Read MoreNafissatou Thiam (1994- )
Emma Reed (Wright) was born on May 30, 1925 on the family farm in rural Redwood, Mississippi to parents Sallie and Smith Reed. She grew up on the farm but attended Coleman High School in Greenville, Mississippi, graduating in 1943. She then enrolled in Tennessee … Read MoreEmma Reed (1925-2014)
American Olympic athlete Rafer Johnson was born on August 18, 1935 in Hillsboro, Texas to parents Lewis Johnson and Alma Gibson Johnson. When he was around nine years old, the family moved from Texas to Kingsburg, California. He attended Kingsburg High School where he was part of the football, basketball, baseball, … Read MoreRafer Johnson (1935-2020)
International rowing champion Angel Fournier Rodriguez was born in Guantanamo, Cuba on December 31, 1987. Rodriguez was raised playing the most popular Cuban sport, baseball, as well as basketball. At age 12 he was spotted by a coach who introduced him to the sport of rowing. Rodriguez began his international rowing … Read MoreAngel Fournier Rodriguez (1987- )
Champion rower Anita Lucette DeFrantz was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 4, 1952. As a child growing up in Indianapolis, Indiana, she began her athletic career as a member of her local swim team. She attended Connecticut College, and at almost 6 feet tall, she tried out for the women’s basketball team … Read MoreAnita L. DeFrantz (1952- )
“Image Ownership: Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil” Allyson Michelle Felix is an American track and field sprinter who competes in 100-meter, 200-meter, and 400-meter races. Felix is the 2012 Olympic Champion, a three-time World champion (2005–09), and two-time Olympic silver medalist (2004–08) at 200 meters. At 400 … Read MoreAllyson Michelle Felix (1985– )
Shaquille Rashaun O’Neal is a retired American professional basketball player who is also an analyst on the TNT television program, Inside the NBA. During his career, O’Neal at 7 ft. 1 in. and weighing 325 pounds was one of the heaviest players in the National … Read MoreShaquille Rashaun O’Neal (1972– )
Fencing champion and multiple Olympic medalist Laura Flessel-Colovic was born November 6, 1971, in Pointe-à-Pitre, the largest city on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, one of four children of Edouard Flessel, a meteorologist, and Marie-Éva Flessel, a school teacher. Self-described as a tomboy in … Read MoreLaura Élodie Flessel-Colovic (1971- )
Ambassador David Bolen, 1978 “Image Ownership: Hubert Link, German Federal Archives” Outstanding college athlete and diplomat David Benjamin Bolen, the son of a postal worker, was born in the rural hamlet of Heflin, Louisiana on December 23, 1923. As a small child he discovered his … Read MoreDavid Benjamin Bolen (1923- )
Tommie Smith is best known as a world class sprinter and for protesting (along with John Carlos) U.S. racism and human oppression on the winner’s podium at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Smith was born in Clarksville, Texas, and raised in Lemoore, California. … Read MoreTommie Smith (1944- )
