The Most Unforgettable, Influential Black Olympic Moments

After Brazil’s Rebecca Andrade took home gold in the floor exercise, Americans Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles honored their friend by bowing down to her greatness during the medal ceremony. It was a truly beautiful moment of camaraderie and respect.

Who’s lighting the Olympic flame is always the biggest mystery of the Opening Ceremonies. When the Summer Games were held in Atlanta, there were a lot of guesses highlighting famous American athletes, but as much as we all wanted to see Muhammad Ali do the honors, everyone assumed his Parkinson’s Disease would keep him from holding the torch. And yet, he once again showed us all to never count out “The Greatest.”

We’re pretty sure the phrase “Black Girl Magic” was invented for FloJo. Not only did she dominate on the track, with her gorgeous hair, eye-catching nails and unique style, she wasn’t afraid to let her competitors know they were about to get smoked by a badass Black woman.

The most famous Black Olympics moment came in 1968 when two brave track and field athletes used their biggest moment of triumph to promote what Dr. Tommie Smith calls “a cry for freedom.” It still stands as one of the most impactful and influential protests in history and has inspired generations of activists.

We’ll never see another phenomenon like the Dream Team again. Their presence led to an international boom for the NBA, which is still happening today. Putting this team on a global stage changed the face of international sports and the NBA forever.

After Team USA got cocky and didn’t win gold in 2004, USA Basketball returned to a familiar formula and put together a superstar team to once again prove America’s basketball dominance. Coached by Duke University’s Mike Krzyzewski, the team included LeBron James; Kobe Bryant; Dwyane Wade; Carmelo Anthony; Chris Bosh; and Chris Paul.

With fascism rising and Hitler in power, Jesse Owens delivered one of the greatest, and most important, Olympic performances in history, winning four gold medals and setting two world records. When it mattered most, he showed the whole world what Black Excellence is.

After disappointment in 1992, the women’s team decided to run a thorough camp of all-star professionals, making team chemistry a priority. The popularity and success of this team led to the launch of two women’s professional basketball leagues in the U.S., one of them being the WNBA. Team USA has won seven straight gold medals in women’s basketball.

The sisters were just beginning their tennis takeover when they solidified their status as the sport’s newest stars by winning gold in the women’s doubles. The rest of the world just couldn’t keep up.

After destroying her longtime rival Maria Sharapova in the gold medal match—she won 6-0, 6-1—Serena celebrated her victory by dancing on the famed Centre Court at the All England Lawn and Tennis Club at Wimbledon. Apparently, Venus bet her she wouldn’t do it.

In the lead up to the Games, the United States’ Jordyn Wieber was considered a gold medal favorite and received a lot of media attention. However, Gabby Douglas had a higher score than her in qualifying, knocking her out of the running for the individual all-around competition. Douglas went on to win the gold becoming the first Black woman to do so.

Simply put, Simone Biles is superhuman. She does things that the human body should not be able to do, and she does it flawlessly. In Rio she dominated the women’s gymnastics competition winning gold in all-around, team, vault and floor, as well as bronze in balance beam. As if that wasn’t enough, she has several extremely difficult elements named after her.

When the world was at its most chaotic, four badass Black women delivered a performance for the ages when Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Allyson Felix, Dalilah Muhammad and Athing Mu showed out in the 4x400 relay. It was a triumphant moment for Black women around the world who desperately needed a win.

In a country that has its own issues with race and class, having runner Cathy Freeman, an Aboriginal athlete, light the flame was a huge moment for the world to see. As if that wasn’t enough, Freeman went on to win gold on the track in the women’s 400m.

Usain Bolt capped off his remarkable Olympic career with three more gold medals in the men’s 100M, 200M and 4x100M relay. Whether you liked his confidence or thought he was too cocky, you had to appreciate the sustained greatness of his athleticism to win eight golds across three Olympics.

We don’t usually get a lot of Black moments at the Winter Olympics, but we couldn’t leave out the iconic Jamaican bobsled team. No one expected Dudley Stokes, Chris Stokes, Devon Harris, and Michael White to win, but they did inspire millions of fans with their gritty, underdog performance. And yes, we got a classic movie out of their heroics.