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- )
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 superior running ability during an Easter egg hunt. Homeschooled by his … Read MoreDavid Benjamin Bolen (1923- )
The Jamaica Bobsled Federation (JBF) was initially created in 1987 by two American businessmen living in Jamaica, George Fitch and William Maloney. After watching a local pushcart race, Fitch and Maloney recognized similarities with bobsledding. Already aware of Jamaica’s athletic history, particularly around sprinting and … Read MoreJamaica Bobsled Team (1987- )
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- )
Professional basketball superstar Kobe Bryant played for the Los Angeles (California) Lakers since 1996 when he came to the team as an eighteen-year-old, the youngest player in National Basketball Association (NBA) history, until his retirement in 2016. Bryant was a long-time philanthropist, using his well-known … Read MoreKobe Bryant (1978-2020)
William DeHart Hubbard was the first African American to win a gold medal at the Olympics as an individual, placing first in the running long jump. Hubbard was born on November 25, 1903, in Cincinnati, Ohio and attended Walnut Hills High School in that city. … Read MoreWilliam DeHart Hubbard (1903-1976)
