Tommie C. Smith is an American former track and field athlete and wide receiver in the American Football League. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Smith, aged 24, won the 200-meter sprint finals and gold medal in 19.83 seconds – the first time the 20-second barrier was broken officially. His Black Power salute with John Carlos atop the medal podium caused controversy, as it was seen as politicizing the Olympic Games. It remains a symbolic moment in the history of the Black Power movement.
Bellarmine College Preparatory is an all-boys, Jesuit, private secondary school located in San Jose, California. Founded on May 8, 1851, it is the oldest Jesuit secondary school in California and the second-oldest west of the Mississippi River.
John Wesley Carlos is an American former track and field athlete and professional football player. He was the bronze-medal winner in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics, where he displayed the Black Power salute on the podium with Tommie Smith. He went on to tie the world record in the 100-yard dash and beat the 200 meters world record. After his track career, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Canadian Football League but retired due to injury.
Ronald Ray Smith was an American athlete, winner of the gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1968 Summer Olympics. He attended San Jose State College during the "Speed City" era, coached by Lloyd (Bud) Winter and graduating in sociology.
San José City College (SJCC) is a public community college in San Jose, California. It was founded in 1921, and is one of the oldest colleges in the California Community College System.
Emerson Lane "Bud" Spencer was an American sprinter who won a gold medal in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 1928 Summer Olympics, breaking the world record in the process. A week later he helped to set another world record, at 3.13.4 in the 4×440 yard relay in London.
Spain competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. 179 competitors, 163 men and 16 women, took part in 104 events in 23 sports.
Kelly Wayne Stouffer is a former American professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Colorado State Rams. Stouffer was selected in the first round of the 1987 NFL draft with the sixth overall pick. He spent most of his NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks from 1988 to 1992.
Michael Lee Swain is one of the most successful American judoka. He competed in countless international competitions. He is now the VP of Martial Arts at Dollamur, Sports LP where he develops and sells Martial Arts equipment and continues to be a spokesperson and board member for USA Judo.
John Gates Powell was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the discus throw. He set a world record at 69.08 meters in 1975, and his personal best of 71.26 meters ties him for ninth place in the all-time performers list.
The 1981 World Games were the first World Games, an international multi-sport event, and were held in Santa Clara, California, United States. The games featured sports that were not included in the Olympics, including tug-of-war, racquetball, baseball and softball, artistic roller skating, roller hockey, roller speed skating, finswimming, karate, women's water polo, bowling, bodybuilding, waterskiing, casting, badminton, trampoline, powerlifting and taekwondo. Best estimates for attendance figures were that about 80,000 spectators witnessed the first World Games.
California has 21 major professional sports franchises, far more than any other US state. The San Francisco Bay Area has six major league teams spread amongst three cities: San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. The Greater Los Angeles Area has ten major league teams. San Diego and Sacramento each have one major league team.
Claudia Anne Kolb, also known by her married name Claudia Thomas, is an American former competition swimmer, swim coach, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in four events.
The San Jose State Spartans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San José State University. SJSU sports teams compete in the Mountain West Conference at the NCAA Division I level, with football competing in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
Gary Steven Ilman was an American competition swimmer, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder in two relay events. He would later coach swimming, serving as a Head Coach at Colorado State, and work in the electronics industry.
Edward Andrew Burke is an American hammer thrower best known for carrying the flag of the United States at the Olympics in Los Angeles 1984. He competed at the 1964, 1968 and 1984 Olympics and placed 7th, 12th and 18th, respectively. He set his personal best in 1984, aged 44.
Lynn Marie Vidali, also known by her married name Lynn Gautschi, is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder.
Mitchell Ivey is a former American international swimmer who was a backstroke specialist and Olympic medalist. Ivey later became a prominent Olympic and college swimming coach.
Jacquelyn Kate Johnson is an American heptathlete. She is a four-time NCAA outdoor champion, and a three-time NCAA indoor champion (2006–2008) while competing for Arizona State University. She also set a personal best of 6,347 points by placing second at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, which guaranteed her a qualifying place for the Olympics. Johnson was a member of the track and field team for the Arizona State Sun Devils, where she wa coached and trained by Dan O'Brien, gold medalist in the decathlon at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2008, she won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's best female collegiate track and field athlete.
