THE OLYMPICS` EXTRA HEAT

sPoRrs
Runners James,Evang and Freeman:
to worry about even making it to the
award stands. Carlos was troubled by a
bad back and, far worse, Smith came out
of his heat with a pulled muscle high on
his thigh. "There was a good chaice I
wouldn't be able to run in the ffnal."
Tommie said. "Lying on that stretcher,I
saw a lot of planscollapsing."
Smith lay for almost two hours with ice
on the leg, then had it heavily taped and
approachedthe start. "It hurt until I got
on the blocks,"he said. "Then I iust had
to forget it and concentrate."He started
fairly slowly as Carlos burst into a solid
Iead. But coming out of the turn, Tommie was in high gear. Carlos,his own calf
starting to hurt, looked around and
yelled, "Come on up here, Tommie."The
words hung in the air as Smith whipped
past, on his way to a l9.8-secondworld
record. Carlos ffnished third. inches behind AustralianPeterNorman.
_ Regret: After the ffnish, the pain shot
back into Tommie'sleg. But again he had
other things on his mind. He tied his
Victory for black people "rn""y*h""#'
wife's black scarf aroundhis neck: Carlos
borrowed a black shirt from a friend on
the ]amaicanteam. They grabbeda pair
of black leather gloves and walked toward the ceremonyarea. Coach Wright
rushed down to tell the U.S. head track
Payton Jordan of the plans.
- It4uny athletes were spurred by the cciach
kind of deep personalpride that drove "They'll regret this for the rest of their
gold-medal winners likt discus cham- lives,"saidJordan.
pion Al Oertel and sprinter Wyomia
When the ceremony began, Smith and
Tyus, both of the U.S. Other.s,like the Carlos marched forward with heads
runners from rising sports nations such high, each with a glove on one hand and
as Kenya, were goadedby fferce nation- a track shoe in the other. Their sweat
alism. These,of course,are the classical pants were rolled up to show black socks,
motivations. New to the Olympics was and they wore protest buttons on their
the feeling of someblack Americanswho chests.Silver medalist Norman alsowore
were ffred largely by racial protest.
a button that Carloshad given him. After
Medals:Jim Hines causedthe ffrst stir their deffant gesture during the national
when he won the 100 meters in world- anthem, Smith said: "This was a victory
record time of 9.9. Hines, who has al- for black peopleeverywhere."
ways opposed a boycott, quietly but
The incident causeda brief furor, but
firmly let officialslcnow therthe did not it might have been largely folgotten
want_to accept his medal fi.om Avery within a few days if the Olympic offiBrundage, the crusty and conservative cials had not chosen to react wilh mas8l-year-old president of the Interna- sive overkill. The International Olympic
tional Olympic Committee.Other blacks, Committee headed by Brundage issued
including such moderatesas long-iumper a swift condemnation of the athletes,
Ralph Boston, suppor.tedhis lequest. with the ominous comment: "The U,S.
Olympic officialsquietly acquiesced.
Olympic Committeecarriesthe responsiBut Smith and Carlos had something bility." Later it was learned that the enstrongerin mind. First they appearedfoi tire American track-and-ffeld squad had
preliminary heats wearing long black been threatenedby the IOC if the U.S.
socks, called "pimp socks"-in tlie ghet- could not "controlits athletes."
tos; then they decided to add more
SeverePenalties:The U.S. committee
black to their uniforms for the awar.dcer- had an emergencymeeting of its own
emony. Tempers flared as the 200-meter and, some 30 hours after the ceremony,
ffnal approached. Stan Wright, the Ne- charge4 Smith and Callos with "untypigro assistantcoachin chargeof the U.S. cal exhibitionism" and kicked them ofi
splintels,told Car'losnot to talk to r.epor-t- the U.S. team and out of the Olympic
ers. Carlos,who talks as his main telaxa- Village. The move had no real eflect bn
tion, went right on promisingprotests.At the runners, who already had their meda team meeting, Wlight urged runners als and were living in hotels with their
to takepride in their unifolms.
wives, but it did put h.emendouspres"Coach,"
retorted Carlos, "I think I'll
sure on 400-meter-manLee Evans, who
run barefootto show my poverty."
planned
a similar gestureon the award
"I've
had just about enough of that stand. "A repetition of such incidents,"
guy's talk," snappedWright.
the USOC added, "would warrant the
The semiffnal heats introduced a new imposition of the severestpenalties."
element of drama. Suddenly Smith and
The day of the ffnal was one of the
Carlos, the overwhelming favorites, had longest of Evans's life. One coach told
THEOLYMPICS'
EXTRAHEAT
Tlre big crowd stood and peered toI ward the far end of Meiico City's
magniffcent Olympic Stadium, where the
American flag would be raised in honor
of Tommie Smith, new Olympic champion in the 200-meter dash. The band
struck up "The Star-spangled Banner,"
and the flag rose slowly against the
darkerriug sky. Then a murmur rippled
thro-ugh _the stadium. Smith and-Jbhn
Callos, the Amelican sprinter who- ffnished third, both stiffiy erect on the
victoly stands, bowed their heads and
thrust black-gloved ffsts high.
A 1,eal of thleatened boycotts, disltrptions and plotests had come down to
this gesttrre of black power and black
plide at the OlympiC Games. Judged
irgitirrst some of the alternatives that
black militants had considered. the silent
tablerru seemed fairly mild. Yei the storm
of controversy that immediately broke
around Smith and Carlos almost overshadorved all the br.illiant performances
and personal dramas of the XIX Olvmpiad-arrd tulned it into what the militants had rvanted all along, a showcase
for black protest against r.acial injustice.
Mariachi: The controversy was in
stalk contrast to the carnival setting.
Mexico City rvas bedecked with Olympic
flags arrd balloons, warmly welcomini a
lecold numbel of 7,000 athletes to the
Games. Militant Nlexican students had
?pparently dropped any plans for conflontations with police, and Mariachi
bands belted out-their. rhythms across
the city, hopefully tlumpefing Mexico's
finest hour. From frenzied boxing matches^ in the- city -to genteel yachl racing
off Acapulco, the competitors produced
many superb efforts as they strained for
the laurels that come only once in four
yeals and, for manv, once in a lifetime.
7/L
Newsweek, October 28, 1968
i.* "
1t*
.rt;
^.L
p
?
.
l'"4
F
'trj
;i!
"r
i'1s*,
w
E J
' I ' l r t ,(
) l r u r l r i cs i g n t t o p - l c f t I p t ' o E S T A D I OO L t M P I C O :
r i d c s t ' r t r a s c i t t - .f o r o l r e u i t r g - r l a vt ' t t r e t t t o r t i t : fsc a t t r r i n g
thc trarlitional pararlc of athletes-itlllons thelu a
stantlani bt'aler f rolt \[ongolia tlt:ft )-atrtl tlrt. r'clcase ol pigt'ons. Belorv" sprirtttrr Jinr l{int's rrins tht:
{ i r s t l l . S . g o l r l r r r e r l a l i n t l a t ' k i n t l r e l ( X ) - r u e t c rt l a s h '
I
Ncrvs\r ( ok--Kcn
Il( qrn
r ('rDr|rir
i t
ALL THE WAY: Naftali Terntr of Kenya (left I
THE STRAINOFCOMPETITION:
Al Oerter (left) wins a record fourth gold medal in the discrrs. Above, featherweighl
weight lifting. Vladimir Golubnichiy of
the Soviet Union (right) raises his hands
in a mixture of fatigue and victory in
winning the 20-kilometer walk. Behind
him, Jos6 Pedraza walks away with Mex.
ico's first medal, a silver. Some veterans
fell short, like U.S. pole vaulter John
Pennel (right), who ended in fifth place.
gets a hug after winning 10,000meters. The Steeplechase(above).
As-*iatec
Press
Nowsweek-Xan
ltesnn
BLACK POWER:Arms
spread wide, Tommie
Smith exultantly snaps
the tape and the world's
record in the 200-meter
dashofinishing in I9.8
seconds,ahead of teammate John Carlos (259) .
Later, on the victory
platform with Australia's Peter Norman,
Smith and Carlos stand
in black socksand raise
black-gloved fists signifying racial protest.
..,
:,i, . ..:' i,i: ,":,;
=-=H#
[..''*
.j \ < . ' .. r- ,. r "i
'.:..v;.
sPoR75
him that his whole future might depend
on whether he demonstrated on the
"If
awards stand.
I don't do anythir.rg," he
told his wife Linda. "it will be for vou."
"If
you want to do something fo. *","
"then
said Linda,
stand up to those devils." Lee talked to the other. U.S. 400
men, Larry James and Ron Freeman,
rrnd they decided to act together. In the
lace, Evans set a wor'ld lecord of 43.8,
with James a close second and Fleeman
third. The three then appeared on the
award stands wealing identical black belets and held ffsts ip to the cheering
clowd. But when the national ar.rthem
began, they whipped ofi theil berets and
stocd at respectful attentior.r. Wher.r the
anthem was over', they waved the berets and smiled proudly as they marched
au'ay. After the long junrp, Boston and
Bob Beamon joined in lhe protest; Boston by accepting his award barefoot and
Beamon by lolling up
^ his sweatpants to
show his biack socfts.
"We've
Politics:
all denronstrated in
our own way," said Smith. "Ald all black
Americans will back us. We couldn't
have dorre mole to public'ize orrr cause
than the committee aid. \\'e'r.e ver.v
glateful. As for Brundaqe's statemenl
that politics has no place irr the Gamesthen why is the U.S. the onlv country in
the world that won't dip its flag to the
host country? Isn't that politics?"
At the Olympic Village, Clrlos and his
wife Kim stepped into a taxi irnd r.ode
away as a crowd of black athletes from
America and Africa cheeled and waved
clenched ffsts. A larqe brrnner was unfurled from the seventh foor of the U.S.
building in the village, r'eading "Dorvn
with Blundage." Wi[h botlr sides at a
fever pitch and other athletes from several countries threatening to enter. the
dispute, the village took orr a new and
apprehensive mood.
The furor interrupted a week of some
of the most bdlliant Olympic feats in
the history of the Games. In the very
ffrst track event of the Games, CharliL
Greene, a 23-year-old gr-aduate student
at Nebraska, tied the Olympic record for.
100 meters; moments later, shot-putter.
Randy \Iatson, 23, of Pampa, Texas,
broke the Olympic mark on his first attempt. The hectic pace set by the two
Americans never let up, and was topped
by Bob Beamon's unLelievable 29-foot.
2lL-inch long jump. A half dozen other
world records and countless Olyrnpic records were bettered ol equaled-and
many of the ffnest perfor.minces were
by athletes cast as losers.
Keep Alive: The outlook for the United States basketball team was bleak. The
team l3cked boycotter Lew Alcindor, appeared mediocre in practice, and was not
expected to keep alive the U.S. record of
never having lost an Olympic game. Yet
last week guard Jojo White guided the
smoothest ofiense in lvlexico City, and
the Americans routed highly ranked Yugoslavia -to become a respected power
again in the sport.
"They
say Tyus doesn't have it anyNeweweeko October
28, 19ffi
more," said Wyomia Tyus, 23, the leading U.S. female sprinter for the past four.
"I
years.
guess I'll just have to shorv
them." In the 100 meters, she shorved
them a world-r'ecord time of eleven seconds to beat teammate Barbara Fer.r.ell
and favored Irena Kirszenstein of Poland. Tyus, who accepted the gold medal
in a dliving downpour', became the fir.st
splinter of either sex ever to repeat as
irn Olympic champion.
Ralph Doubell allived from Australia
with little international experience arrd
no altitude training, yet sur.prised a supelb ffeld in the 800. Dave Hemery of
Gleat Britain, whose best previous time
in an erratic careel' was 49.6, won the
400-meter hurdles in an almost unbeIievable 48.l-and sent the always er.rthusiastic British press into flights of ecstatic
rhetoric. And Janis Lusis, the magniffcerrt
Oxygen: The altitude was brutal
Russian,overcame the "iinx event" of
the Gamesand becamethe fir'st favor.ite
to win the men'sjavelin throw since1932.
There were, of course,as many shocking disappointmentsas there rvere triumphs. Greene, who had held an 8-4
edge in his lunning battle with Hines for
sprint supremacy,sufiered a leg cramp
and sprained wrist, lost his folm and
struggledhome third behind Hines and
Jamaica'sLennox Miller in the men's
100.Wade Bell, favoredin the 800, came
up completely empty and didn't even
make the semiffnal.Discus star Jay Silvester, who this yeal had overcome a
reputation for great practice throws followed by fouls under pressure,rever.ted
to his old habits and fouled on half his
throws as he placed fffth behind Oerter.
And popular hammer thrower Harold
Connolly, 37, qualiffed for his fourth
Olympic ffnals, only to be disqualifted on
a technicality when, after ffnishing a
throw,_he-walked-out the side of the iing
insteadof the back.
To many, the biggest surprise of the
Olympics may have been the site itself.
The Mexicans framed the action in a setting of ffne modern architecture and bold
sculptule; yet Mexico City also lent the
Games its time-honored tradition of producing bizalle and chaotic situations.
The Pless Village, for example, was lavish
and commodious-until it rained. Ther.r
the roof leaked so heavily that Bov Scouts
had to sclamble frantically among the
typervlitels catching the water in garbage cans. A cultural program was equally ambitious and largely successful; but
it was highlighted by a poetry seminarr.
that poets fi'om 40 nations conspicuously
failed to attend.
Melon: Daily there were frantic bulletins: the Mexican shooting team had all
its guns stolen; the Australian water-polo
teanr, which paid its own way to the
Ganres, was barred from competition by
the rigid Olympic committee; doctors
had to lush to the side of a Russian athlete rvho ate a whole melon. skin and all.
To athletes, the dominant charactelistic of the city was the altitude (7,350
feet). Hardly ar.r houl passed without
some distance runner, rower or cyclist
collapsing from lack oi o*yge.r. The- thin
air increased the speed of laces up to
800 meters, but it brutally punished distance men lvho were not acclimatized to
it. Expelience at the altitude-as well as
the wildly enthusiastic local crowdshelped trvo distance runllers give the
\lexicirns their proudest moments. In the
10.000 meters, Juan Martinez of Mexic<.r
pressed all the way and finished foulth;
then he ctrme back for another fourth in
the 5,000. Ar.rd when the ffeld for the
2O-kilometel walk ended its cross-country journey and re-entered the stadium,
the crowd bulst into fi'antic chants of
"\'Ielre-co"
as they saw their own little
Jose Pedraza gamely chasing the towering Russian winner, Vladimir Golubnichiy. Pedraza ffnished second to bring Mexico its ffr'stmedal.
The Kenyan runners, who live at a
height comparable with Mexico City's,
took advantage of it and provided one of
the most exciting elements in the Games:
the emergence of a new power in international sports. Some had speculated that
these Cames would witness the r.ise of
Aflican athletes just as the previous tlvo
had seen the emergence of the Australians. But hardly anyone expected the
Africans-and particularly the Kenyansto dominate the distance events as totally as they did.
"This
Home:
feels iust like Africa."
said Naftali Temu of Kenya. "We will
be at home here." Kipchoge Keino told
"We
an Amelican athlete,
have more
than altitude experience going for us.
We have a lot to prove after what has
been said and written about us."
The Kenyans have suffered through a
tumultuous season, beginning with the
ffring of their white British coach, John
Velzian, Iast spring. Velzian led them
for four years.and was credited with
much of their development. But when
tlre issue of South Afiican participation
79
SPORTS
{nm#lq*.|l*
UPI
Long-jumper
Beamon:
Unbelievable
in the Olympics swept Africa, the Kenyan Government decided that it could
r.rot retain a white coach, particularly
one who refused to become a citizen of
the country.
Under new coach Challes Mukora,
the Kenyans had a poor summer of competition. Some whites quickly implied
that black Africans could not train themselves without white guidance; the firing
of Velzian, they predicted, would cost
Kenya many medals. In Mexico, coach
Mukola told his athletes not to discuss
the matter with reporters; the runners
waited silently and tensely for their
chance to answer the cliticisms on the
"We're
tlack.
all related," quarter-miler
Daniel Rudisha told an American Negro,
"and
we all have a cause to run for here."
Well Done: Temu started his country's week with a victory in the 10,000
meters. Velzian, who left his coaching
job on good terms with the athletes and
remains emotionally tied to them, could
not restrain himself during the presentation of the first gold medal in Kenya's
history. As the stadium fell quiet, he let
out a howling tribal cry from the stands.
"It
'Well
means
done"' he explained.
"This
great
is a
moment fol Kenya."
Kenya entered its ffrst Olympics in
1956. The ffrst gold medal had taken
twelve years and four Olympics; the second took three days. Flamboyant Amos
Biwott cleared the water jump every
time withbut splashing into it-a rarity in
steeplechasing-and
won his heat by
some 100 meters. Then the 20-vear-old
runner returned to edge teammate Ben-
80
jamin Kogo and America's previously
unbeaten George Young in a wildly exciting steeplechase ffnal. Wilson Kiprugut
contributed a silver medal in the 800,
and Keino and Temu ran second and
third behind Tunisia's Mohammed Gammoudi in the 5,000 to complete Kenya's
remarkable week.
The Ol1'rnpics began on a much lower
note for another group of determined
athletes; the Harvard crew that represented the U.S. in eight-oared rowing.
Harvard had gone through an entire varsity season and the Olympic trials with
the same nine men in the boat. In Mexico, they rarely had the same group together for two straight days; sickness
struck three key men. Then in the first
race they had two riggers break-losing
the powel from two oars-and ffnished a
dismal fifth. Stunned by the result, the
Harvard rowers were equally dismayed
"We
by the reaction of Olyrnpic officials:
told those kids to cut their hair."
Sympathy: The Crimson had been
plagued by criticism ever since six of
the crew declared their support for the
black athletes. Although theil hair is no
longel than current college styles, they
"the
have been derided in Mexico as
"shaggies"
grubby crew," the
and the
"hippies."
Coxswain Paul Hoffman was
slanrmed against a wall and threatened
by a boxing manager because he gave a
plotest button to a black boxer who requested it. And incredibly, Hoffman was
even threatened with possible dismissal
from the U.S. team because he merely
stood with the wives of Smith and Carlos
during the track stars' award ceremony
and expressed syrnpathy for the athletes.
After the opening defeat, coach Harry
Parker shuffied his personnel desperately for a comeback attempt in the repechage; he also told the crew to forget
about starting fast and to maintain a
steady pace. So Harvard dropped to last
in the ffrst 500 meters, then charged
back to place second and take the last
qualifying spot in the ffnals. Only one
crew-Yale in 1956-has ever returned
from the repechage to win a gold medal.
Harvard couldn't duplicate the feat. Faltering in the Iast 500 meters, the Crimson finished last behind West Germany.
For some American winners. life was
calmer and simpler at the Games. Willie
Davenport ended a season of injuries
and frustration to win the 110-meter hurdles. Handsome Bob Seagren polel7-feet,
vaulted
816-inches-just onequarter inch off his own world mark-and
barely won a gold medal, Wolfgang
Nordwig of East Germany and Claus
Schiprowski of West Germany also
cleared the height-almost a foot higher
ffnished
than the Olyrnpic record-but
second and thild because they had more
misses than Seagren in the grueling seven-and-a-half-hour comoetition,
Best: Fol Al Oerter, lhings were calmest of all. Oerter is that rare phenomenon: a true amateur. He works as supervisor of a computer-communications center at a Long Island aircraft factory, and
practices only about an hour a day after
work. He doesn't like to leave his wife
and two daughters, so he seldom travels
to meets. In non-Olympic years he gives
up discus-throwing almost entirely. But
in Olympic years he simply becomes the
world's best. Last week, at the age of
32, Oerter topped his personal best perfornance three times, and became the
first athlete to win four straight Olympic
gold medals in the same event.
"The
Olympics bring out my very best
"They
he said.
are a very personal, important thing to me. I think that anyone
who takes this experience lightly is making a great mistake."
Few were taking the Games lightly
last week, and no one was taking them
"The
more seriously than Tommie Smith.
gold medal has always been the thing
"CrossI wanted most in track." he said.
ing the ffnish was one of my happiest
moments. But there are bigger things in
my life than medals and records. It was
far greater to win for my people."
Harvard ohippiesotrail Soviet crew: Ill:ress, accidents and even threats
Newsweek, October 28, 1968