- 1890: George Dixon becomes the first African American world boxing champion
- 1899: Marshall ‘Major’ Taylor becomes the first African American world cycling champion
- 1908: During the Olympics in London, John Baxter Taylor became the first African American to win a gold medal (4x 400 relay)
- 1936: Jesse Owens becomes the first African American to win four gold medals at a single Olympics tournament
- 1947: Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American Major League Baseball player when he joins the Brooklyn Dodgers
- 1956: Althea Gibson becomes the first African American to play in and win the women’s singles title at Wimbledon
- 1958: Willie O’Ree becomes the first African American to play in the NHL
- 1960: Wilma Rudolph becomes the first woman in Olympics history to win three gold medals in a single Olympics
- 1962: Charlie Sifford becomes the first African American PGA Tour member
- 1967: Emlen Tunnell is the first African American to be inducted into the NFL’s Hall of Fame
- 1975: Lee Elder becomes the first African American to play in the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National
- 1975: Arthur Ashe becomes the first and only African American to win the men’s single at Wimbledon
- 1988: Doug Williams becomes the first African American quarterback to win a Super Bowl
- 1997: Tiger Woods becomes the first African American to win the Masters Golf Tournament
- 2002: Ozzie Newsome becomes the first African American General Manager of an NFL team (Shout out Baltimore Ravens)
- 2004: Robert L. Johnson becomes the first African American, principal owner of a major-league sports franchise in North America (The NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats).
All of these people deserve great respect and admiration by acting as pioneers, overcoming adversity and finding ways to harness negative sentiments and turn them into motivation. Arthur Ashe had lost multiple times to a man named Jimmy Connors. In the heat of racial segregation, Connors declared that he would sue Ashe just days before playing against him in the Wimbledon final. With everything against him, Ashe redirected the adversity and played a near-perfect game to win. And there are many more examples like this.
While we recognize their achievements, we should recognize as well that there are many challenges African Americans and other people of color still face. This month, take some time to think about those who paved the way in the athletic world.
