.jpg) Carlos in May 2012 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | John Wesley Carlos |
| Born | (1945-06-05)June 5, 1945 (age 79) New York City, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Weight | 187 lb (85 kg) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Sprint running |
| Club | Santa Clara Valley Youth Village |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personalbest(s) | 100 y – 9.1 (1969) 100 m – 10.0 (1968) 200 m – 19.92 (1968) 440 y – 47.0 (1967)[1] |
Medal record | |
John Wesley Carlos (born June 5, 1945) is an American formertrack and field athlete and professionalfootball player. He was the bronze-medal winner in the 200 meters at the1968 Summer Olympics, where he displayed theBlack Power salute on the podium withTommie Smith. He went on to tie the world record in the100-yard dash and beat the200 meters world record (although the latter achievement was never certified). After his track career, he enjoyed a brief stint in theCanadian Football League but retired due to injury.[1]
He became involved with theUnited States Olympic Committee and helped to organize the1984 Summer Olympics. Following this, he became a track coach atPalm Springs High School. He was inducted into theUSA Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2003.
He is the author, with sportswriterDave Zirin, ofThe John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World, published in 2011 byHaymarket Books.
Born inThe Bronx, Carlos was raised in theHarlem neighborhood of New York City. His mother, Violis (née Lawrence, 1919–2016), was born inJamaica to BlackCuban parents and grew up inSantiago, Cuba. His father, Earl V. Carlos Sr. (1895–1969), was fromSouth Carolina. Carlos participated in a 200-meter dash and as a member of the 4×400-meter relay helped lead ETSU to the 1967Lone Star Conference Championship. After his first year, Carlos enrolled atSan Jose State University where he was trained by future National Track & Field Hall of Fame coachLloyd (Bud) Winter.
Carlos was awarded an honorary doctorate fromCalifornia State University in 2008. In 2012, he was awarded honorary doctorates from his alma maters Texas A&M University-Commerce (formerly East Texas State University) and San Jose State University.[2]
The 1968Olympic Trials were held on the Californian side of Lake Tahoe atEcho Summit trailhead, which at 7,377 feet above sea level is approximately the same altitude asMexico City.[3][4] Carlos won the 200-meter dash in 19.92 seconds, beating world-record holderTommie Smith and surpassing his record by 3 seconds. Though the record was never ratified because the spike formation on Carlos's shoes ("brush spikes") was not accepted at the time,[5] the race reinforced his status as a world-class sprinter.
Carlos became a founding member of theOlympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR), and originally advocated aboycott of the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games unless four conditions were met: withdrawal of South Africa and Rhodesia from the games, restoration of Muhammad Ali's world heavyweight boxing title,Avery Brundage to step down as president of the IOC, and the hiring of more African-American assistant coaches. As the boycott failed to achieve support after the IOC withdrew invitations for South Africa and Rhodesia, he decided, together with Smith, to participate but to stage a protest in case he received a medal.[6] Following his first-place finish behind fellow American Smith and AustralianPeter Norman in the 200 meters at the Mexico Olympics, Carlos and Smith made headlines around the world byraising their black-gloved fists at the medal award ceremony. Both athletes wore black socks and no shoes on the podium to representAfrican-Americanpoverty in the United States. In support, Peter Norman, the silver medalist who was a white athlete from Australia, participated in the protest by wearing an OPHR badge.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidentAvery Brundage deemed it to be a domestic political statement unfit for the supposedly apolitical, international forum the Olympic Games were claimed to be. In response to their actions, he ordered Smith and Carlos suspended from the US team and banned from the Olympic Village. When the US Olympic Committee refused, Brundage threatened to ban the entire US track team. This threat led to the expulsion of the two athletes from the Games.[7]
A spokesman for the IOC called Smith and Carlos's actions "a deliberate and violent breach of the fundamental principles of the Olympic spirit."[8] Brundage, who was president of the United States Olympic Committee in 1936, had made no objections againstNazi salutes during theBerlin Olympics. He argued that the Nazi salute, being a national salute at the time, was acceptable in a competition of nations, while the athletes' salute was not of a nation and therefore unacceptable.[9]
Carlos had his greatest year in track and field in 1969, equaling the world 100-yard record of 9.1, winning the AAU 220-yard run, and leading San Jose State to its firstNCAA championship with victories in the 100 and 220 and as a member of the 4×110-yard relay. He was featured on the cover ofTrack and Field News' May 1969 issue.[10]
He was also the gold medalist at 200 meters at the 1967Pan American Games inWinnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and set indoor world bests in the 60-yard dash (5.9) and the indoor 220-yard dash (21.2).[1]
The 1968 Olympics were in the middle of several significant events pertaining to the Civil Rights movement: Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, theFair Housing Act law was passed on April 11, 1968, and the 1968 Olympics were in October 1968. At this time, countless protests around the country in response to the Vietnam War and US laws on individual human rights being actively fought for. The1968 Olympics were broadcast nationally and internationally through television and radio, giving athletes a platform to share their thoughts on issues around the world in front of a large audience of people. The international press the games were given was a tool used in international relations during the cold war. Acts of peaceful protest by popular athletes in sports is something that is still very prevalent in today's society.[11]
Following his track career, Carlos, a 15th-round selection in the1970 NFL draft, tried professional football, but a knee injury curtailed his tryout with thePhiladelphia Eagles of theNational Football League.[12] He then went on to theCanadian Football League where he played one season for theMontreal Alouettes.[13] Following his retirement from football, Carlos worked forPuma, theUnited States Olympic Committee, the Organising Committee of the1984 Summer Olympics and the City ofLos Angeles.
In 1985, Carlos became a counselor and in-school suspension supervisor, as well as the track and field coach, atPalm Springs High School in California. In 2003, he was elected to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame.In 2005, a statue titledVictory Salute showing Carlos and Smith on the medal stand was constructed by political artistRigo 23 and dedicated on the campus ofSan Jose State University.[14]
In 2006, John Carlos delivered a eulogy at Peter Norman's funeral and was also a pallbearer at the ceremony, as was Tommie Smith.
In 2007, John Carlos was honored at the Trumpet Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Carlos is the godfather ofChicago White Sox General ManagerKenny Williams. Carlos ran track with Williams's father in college.
In April 2008, Carlos was a torch-bearer for theHuman Rights Torch,[15] which ran in parallel to the2008 Summer Olympics torch relay and focusing attention onChina's human rights record.[16][17]
On July 16, 2008, John Carlos and Tommie Smith accepted theArthur Ashe Award for Courage for their salute, at the 2008ESPY Awards held atNOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles, California.
On October 10, 2011, Carlos spoke and raised his fist atOccupy Wall Street. He said: "Today I am here for you. Why? Because I am you. We're here forty-three years later because there's a fight still to be won. This day is not for us but for our children to come." The following day he appeared onMSNBC and onCurrent TV'sCountdown with Keith Olbermann.[18]
In July 2018, Carlos attended the Socialism 2018 conference hosted by theInternational Socialist Organization.[19]
Carlos married his first wife, Karen Benjamin "Kim" Groce, in 1965 when the two were still in high school. The two divorced in 1974, and in 1977, Kim committed suicide. He remarried to Charlene Norwood in 1984.
In 1986, Carlos was arrested for cocaine possession. After he was found guilty in court, he attended a drug rehabilitation program, after which his conviction was expunged.
Carlos has identified with various religions, including a period ofCatholicism that brought him into conflict withBlack Power ideologies. He later stated that he is no longer aChristian.[20][21]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Men's 200m Best Year Performance 1969–1970 | Succeeded by |
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