Tommie Smith a former champion from the Olympics of 1968 where he protested for racial inequalities. Thomas C. Smith was born to Richard and Dora Smith on June 6, 1944 in Clarksville, Texas. He is seventh of the twelve children from his family he had survived a life threatening pneumonia when he was an infant. His father was a sharecropper and when he was younger he used to pick cotton at local farms to help his family with the family finances. His family moved to California where he attended Lemoore High School he demonstrated potential in Track and Field and broke most of the Track &Field records. He is 6”3 he is African American his eyes are dark brown, his hair color is black. After his family moved to California, he was voted the most valuable athlete of his basketball, football and track and field teams at Lemoore High School. …show more content…
In San Jose State on May 6 1966 he set a world best for 19.5 seconds in the 200meters straightaway. On June 1966 he yet again set the world record for the 200meters and 200 yard in just 20 seconds. Six days later he won the National Collegiate Athletic Association for Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship. Smith also won the 220-yard title in Amateur Athletic Union in 1967. He qualified for the Olympians of 1968 it took place in Mexico City he broke the world record and Olympic record with the time of 19.83 seconds in the 200 meters which he then became the champion. After his track & field career, he became a member of the United States National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1978. In 1996, Smith was included into the California Black Sports Hall of Fame, and in 1999 he received the organization's Sportsman of the Millennium