Tommie Smith

Tommie Smith was born on June 6, 1944, in Clarksville, Texas, the seventh of twelve children born to Richard and Dora Smith. He suffered from pneumonia as a child, but still grew to be an athletic youth. While attending Lemoore High School in Lemoore, California, Smith showed great potential, setting most of the school's track records, many of which remain. He won the 440-yard dash in the 1963 CIF California State Meet.{{cite web |url=http://www.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/TRACK/stateres.htm |title=California State Meet Results – 1915 to present |publisher=Hank Lawson |access-date=December 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006092406/http://www.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/TRACK/stateres.htm |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |url-status=dead }} He was voted Lemoore's "Most Valuable Athlete" in basketball, football, and track and field,{{cite web|title=Tommie's Bio|url=http://www.tommiesmith.com/bio.html|publisher=TommieSmith.com|access-date=March 6, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326065421/http://www.tommiesmith.com/bio.html|archive-date=March 26, 2013}} and was also voted vice president of his senior class.Silent Gesture: the autobiography of Tommie Smith (2007). Tommie Smith and David Steele. Temple University Press. p70. His achievements earned him a scholarship to San José State University.[http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/CRsmithT.htm Tommie Smith] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004015240/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/CRsmithT.htm |date=October 4, 2009 }}, Spartacus Educational

On May 7, 1966, while he was at San Jose State, Smith set a world best of 19.5 seconds in the 200 m straight, which he ran on a cinder track.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/8651471.stm Tyson Gay aims for Tommie Smith's 44-year-old record ]. BBC Sport (April 30, 2010). Retrieved on May 3, 2010. That record for 200 m was finally beaten by Tyson Gay on May 16, 2010, just over 44 years later,Oddi, Vicky (May 16, 2010) [http://www.legacy.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?duid=USATF_2010_05_16_15_12_11 Gay sprints to 19.41 world best on 200m straight]. USATF Press release. Retrieved on June 13, 2015. though Smith still holds the record for the slightly longer 220-yard event. Since the IAAF has abandoned ratifying records for the event, Smith still retains the official record for the straightaway 200 m/220 yards in perpetuity.[http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/display_article.php?id=43684 Edwards Announces Retirement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227073854/http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/display_article.php?id=43684 |date=February 27, 2012 }}. Track and Field News. Retrieved on June 13, 2015.

A few weeks later, on June 11, 1966, Smith set the record for 200 meters and 220 yards around a turn at 20.0, the first man to do that in 20 seconds. Six days later he won the NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship. Smith also won the national collegiate 220-yard (201.17 m) title in 1967 before adding the AAU furlong (201.17m) crown as well. He traveled to Japan for the 1967 Summer Universiade and won the 200 m gold medal. He repeated as U.S. 200 m champion in 1968 and made the Olympic team. And his bestfriend is Twalha Omar and Arvid Hörlin

File:John Carlos, Tommie Smith, Peter Norman 1968cr.jpg (right) showing the raised fist on the podium after the 200 m race at the 1968 Summer Olympics; both wear Olympic Project for Human Rights badges. Peter Norman (silver medalist, left) from Australia also wears an OPHR badge in solidarity with Smith and Carlos.]]

Leading up to the Olympics, at the U.S. Olympic Trials at Echo Summit, California, San Jose State teammate John Carlos beat Smith and his world record, running 19.92A. John Carlos' record was disallowed because of the brush spike shoes he was wearing, as was a similar record by Vince Matthews in the 400 meters.{{Cite web|url=http://www.puma-catchup.com/the-forbidden-shoe/|title = The forbidden Shoe|date = September 22, 2014}}

As a member of the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) Smith originally advocated a boycott of the 1968 Mexfrom the Olympics, the restoration of Muhammad Ali's world heavyweight boxing title, Avery Brundage to step down as president of the International Olympic Committee (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 Carlos, to not only wear their gloves but also go barefoot to protest poverty, wear beads to protest lynchings, and wear buttons that said OPHR.Zirin, Dave. [http://www.isj.org.uk/index.php4?id=823&issue=135 Resistance: the best Olympic spirit]

At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico, Smith nursed an injured groin into the 200 m final. In the race, teammate Carlos powered out to the lead through the turn, while Smith got a slow start. Coming off the turn, Smith charged past Carlos and sped to victory. Knowing he had passed his training partner and closest opponent, his victory was so clear, he raised his arms to celebrate 10 m before the finish line. Still, he improved upon his own world record that would last for 11 years until Pietro Mennea would surpass it on the same track. Smith's time of 19.83 was among the first automatically timed world records for the event as recorded by the IAAF.{{cite book|last1=Hymans|first1=Richard|last2=Matrahazi|first2=Imre|title=Progression of IAAF World Records. 2015 Edition|date=2015|publisher=IAAF Athletics|location=Monaco|page=45|url=http://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/Progression-of-IAAF-World-Records-2015/projet/IAAF-WRPB-2015.pdf}}

Image:TV-icon-2.svg interview anticipating potential action]]

Carlos and Smith made headlines around the world by raising their black-gloved fists at the medal award ceremony. Both athletes wore black socks and no shoes on the podium to represent African-American poverty. In support, Peter Norman, the silver medalist who was a white athlete from Australia, participated in the protest by wearing an OPHR badge.{{cite web|last=Haddow|first=Joshua|title=We Interviewed Tommie Smith About the 1968 'Black Power' Salute|date=August 10, 2012 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-story-behind-the-1968-salute/|publisher=Vice.com|access-date=March 6, 2013}}

IOC president Avery Brundage deemed it to be a domestic political statement unfit for the apolitical, international forum the Olympic Games were intended 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.[http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/September-October-08/On-this-Day--US-Athletes-Give-Black-Power-Salute-on-Olympic-Podium.html On This Day: Tommie Smith and John Carlos Give Black Power Salute on Olympic Podium] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109003515/http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/September-October-08/On-this-Day--US-Athletes-Give-Black-Power-Salute-on-Olympic-Podium.html |date=November 9, 2020 }}. Findingdulcinea.com. Retrieved on June 13, 2015.

A spokesman for the IOC called Smith and Carlos's actions "a deliberate and violent breach of the fundamental principles of the Olympic spirit." Brundage, who was president of the United States Olympic Committee in 1936, had made no objections against Nazi salutes during the Berlin Olympics. He argued that the Nazi salute, being a German national salute at the time, was acceptable in a competition of nations, while the athletes' salute was not of a nation and therefore unacceptable."The Olympic Story", editor James E. Churchill, Jr., published 1983 by Grolier Enterprises Inc.

Smith and Carlos faced consequences for challenging white authority in the U.S. Ralph Boston, a black U.S. long jumper at the 1968 games, stated: "The rest of the world didn't seem to find it such a derogatory thing. They thought it was very positive. Only America thought it was bad.""The Silent Salute 1968 Olympics". (2016). Pitch International LLP. The men's gesture had lingering effects for all three athletes, the most serious of which were death threats against Smith, Carlos and their families. Following their suspension by the IOC, they faced economic hardship. Silver medalist Norman's career suffered greatly in his native Australia as "he returned home […] a pariah, suffering unofficial sanction and ridicule as the Black Power salute's forgotten man. He never ran in the Olympics again."{{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/24/sport/olympics-norman-black-power/ |title=The third man: The forgotten Black Power hero |first=James |last=Montague |date=24 April 2012 |publisher=CNN |access-date=9 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307180045/http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/24/sport/olympics-norman-black-power/ |archive-date=7 March 2017 |url-status=live}}

Smith stated in later years that "We were concerned about the lack of black assistant coaches. About how Muhammad Ali got stripped of his title. About the lack of access to good housing and our kids not being able to attend the top colleges."{{cite web|url=http://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/columnists/erika-smith/2015/03/18/smith-tried-make-moment-movement/24983931/|title=Smith: 'They tried to make it a moment, but it was a movement'}}

File:Tommie Smith trackmeet 2023.png

During his career, Smith set seven individual world records and also was a member of several world-record relay teams at San Jose State, where he was coached by Lloyd (Bud) Winter. With personal records of 10.1 for 100 meters, 19.83 for 200 and 44.5 for the 400, Smith still ranks high on the world all-time lists.

Smith, who had been drafted by the National Football League's Los Angeles Rams in the ninth round of the 1967 NFL Draft, signed to play for the American Football League's Cincinnati Bengals and was part of the team's taxi squad for most of three seasons as a wide receiver.Moore, Kenny (August 5, 1991) [https://web.archive.org/web/20140203114010/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1139998/]. Sports Illustrated During the 1969 season, he played in two games, catching one pass for 41 yards.[http://www.nfl.com/player/tommiesmith/2526095/profile Tommie Smith, WR at]. Nfl.com. Retrieved on June 13, 2015.[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SmitTo01.htm Tommie Smith NFL & AFL Football Statistics]. Pro-Football-Reference.com.

A year after his Olympic win, Smith finished his BA in Social Science at San Jose State University and went on to earn a master's in Social Change from Goddard College, whose program enabled Smith to integrate his teaching and writing practices into his coursework.{{cite news|last1=Davis|first1=David|title=Olympic Athletes Who Took a Stand|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/articles/olympic-athletes-who-took-a-stand-593920/|access-date=March 29, 2018|work=Smithsonian|date=August 2008|language=en}}{{cite news|last1=Bodette|first1=Mitch Wertlieb, Melody|title=Olympian Tommie Smith To Be Honored By Goddard|url=http://digital.vpr.net/post/olympian-tommie-smith-be-honored-goddard#stream/0|access-date=March 29, 2018|date=October 3, 2013|language=en}}

After his track and football careers, he became a member of the United States National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1978. In 1996, Smith was inducted into the California Black Sports Hall of Fame, and in 1999 he received that organization's Sportsman of the Millennium Award.{{cite news|title=Chat with Tommie Smith|url=http://www.espn.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/30828/olympian-tommie-smith|access-date=July 10, 2017|publisher=ESPN}} In 2000 and 2001 the County of Los Angeles and the State of Texas presented Smith with commendation, recognition and proclamation awards.{{cite web|title=Tommie Smith : California Sports Hall of Fame|url=http://californiasportshalloffame.org/inductees/tommie-smith/|publisher=California Sports Hall of Fame|access-date=March 29, 2018}}

He later became a track coach at Oberlin College in Ohio, where he also taught sociology and until 2005 was a faculty member teaching physical education at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California.{{cite web |title=THE LEGENDARY TOMMIE SMITH RETIRES FROM SMC AFTER 27 YEARS |url=https://smmirror.com/2005/06/the-legendary-tommie-smith-retires-from-smc-after-27-years/ |website=Santa Monica Mirror |date=June 24, 2005 |access-date=December 11, 2018}}

In August 2008, he gave 2008 Olympic triple gold winner Usain Bolt of Jamaica one of his shoes from the 1968 Olympics as a birthday gift.{{Citation|url=http://www.pumarunning.com/#EN/running/content/main/chasingBOLT |title=Time To Dance: Usain v Asafa |publisher=Puma |date=August 25, 2008 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100428114815/http://www.pumarunning.com/#EN/running/content/main/chasingBOLT |archive-date=April 28, 2010 }}

In 2010, Smith put his gold medal and spikes up for auction. Bids started at $250,000, and the sale was scheduled to close November 4, 2010.{{cite web|title=Tommie Smith selling '68 gold medal|url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/news/story?id=5682536|work=espn.com|date = October 13, 2010|access-date=October 14, 2010}} In 2013, Goddard College honored Smith as an alumnus by awarding him the Presidential Award for Activism in 2013.

Smith's autobiography (co-written with David Steele), Silent Gesture was published in 2007 by Temple University Press.{{Cite web |title=Silent Gesture |url=https://tupress.temple.edu/books/silent-gesture |access-date=2023-06-22 |website=Temple University Press}} It was named a 2008 Adult Nonfiction Honor Book by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and nominated for a 2008 NAACP Image Award.

Smith's second book Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice was published in 2022 by Norton Young Readers.{{Cite web |title=Victory. Stand! |url=https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324052159/about-the-book/description |access-date=2023-06-22 |website=W. W. Norton}} The graphic memoir was co-written with Derrick Barnes and illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile. The book received literary acclaim. It won the 2023 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction and was recognized as a 2023 Corretta Scott King Award Author and Illustrator Honor Book as well as a finalist for the 2022 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.

Smith first married Jimi Denise Paschal from 1967 to 1973, with whom he had one child. He then married Denise M. "Akiba" Kyle in 1977, with whom he had four children.{{cite web |last1=Moore |first1=Kenny |title=The Eye Of The Storm |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1991/08/12/the-1968-olympians-the-eye-of-the-storm-the-lives-of-the-us-olympians-who-protested-racism-in-1968-were-changed-forever |website=Sports Illustrated |publisher=Sports Illustrated Vault |access-date=22 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415020754/https://vault.si.com/vault/1991/08/12/the-1968-olympians-the-eye-of-the-storm-the-lives-of-the-us-olympians-who-protested-racism-in-1968-were-changed-forever |archive-date=April 15, 2021 |language=en-us |date=August 12, 1991 |url-status=live}} The two divorced in 2000, and Smith married Delois Jordan in the same year.

File:Tommie Smith 1968.jpg

Tommie Smith is featured in the 1999 HBO documentary Fists of Freedom: The Story of the '68 Summer Games. The documentary looks at events leading up to, during and after the 1968 Olympics. It features interviews with Smith, Carlos and sociologist Harry Edwards. There is archival footage of the Games and the fallout after the raised fist salutes by Carlos and Smith. Smith says in the programme:{{cite AV media |people=Roy, George (Director) |year=1999 |title=Firsts of Freedom: The Story of the '68 Games |medium=documentary}}

We were not Antichrists. We were just human beings who saw a need to bring attention to the inequality in our country. I don't like the idea of people looking at it as negative. There was nothing but a raised fist in the air and a bowed head, acknowledging the American flag – not symbolizing a hatred for it.

For his lifelong commitment to athletics, education, and human rights, Smith received the Courage of Conscience Award from The Peace Abbey in Sherborn, Massachusetts.{{cite web |url=http://www.peaceabbey.org/awards/cocrecipientlist.html |title=The Couage of Conscience Award |publisher=The Peace Abbey |access-date=August 22, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214172308/http://www.peaceabbey.org/awards/cocrecipientlist.html |archive-date=February 14, 2009 }} In 2004, a sports hall bearing his name was inaugurated in his presence at Saint-Ouen, France.{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=Rafer|title=Great Athletes|date=2009|publisher=Salem Press|isbn=9781587654862|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=arJZAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Tommie+Smith%22+%2B+%22saint-Ouen%22|access-date=July 10, 2017}}

In 2005, a statue titled Victory Salute showing Smith and Carlos on the medal stand was constructed by political artist Rigo 23 and dedicated on the campus of San Jose State University.{{cite web |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2005/10/18/SPGJTF9THS1.DTL |title=OLYMPIC PROTEST: Smith and Carlos Statue captures sprinters' moment |author=Crumpacker, John |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle |date=October 18, 2005 |access-date=August 22, 2008}}{{Cite web |last=Cull • • |first=Ian |date=2024-06-29 |title=SJSU Black Power salute statues restored |url=https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/south-bay/black-power-salute-statues-restored/3578447/ |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=NBC Bay Area |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Pizarro |first=Sal |date=June 29, 2024 |title=Iconic San Jose State monument gets a touch-up before the Olympics |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/06/29/iconic-san-jose-state-monument-gets-a-touch-up-before-the-olympics/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240913230535/https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/06/29/iconic-san-jose-state-monument-gets-a-touch-up-before-the-olympics/ |archive-date=September 13, 2024 |access-date=October 3, 2024 |website=The Mercury News |language=en-US}} Norman's silver medal position was left vacant at his request, so visitors could pose for photos in solidarity with Smith and Carlos, as Norman had stood.{{cite web |url=http://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/the-white-man-in-that-photo/ |title=The White Man in That Photo |last=Gazzaniga |first=Riccardo |website=Films For Action |access-date=July 14, 2016}}

A mural of the photo taken with Smith on the podium at the 1968 Olympics with Carlos and Norman was painted on the brick wall of a residence in Newtown, New South Wales, Australia, titled "Three Proud People Mexico 68". The house's owner, Silvio Offria, allowed an artist known only as "Donald" to paint the mural, and said that Norman came to Newtown to see the mural and have his photo taken with it before he died in 2006. The mural faces the train tracks linking Sydney city to the Western and Southern Suburbs. In 2012, the Sydney City Council heritage listed the mural to safeguard it, after it had faced possible demolition in 2010 to make way for a railway tunnel.{{cite news |url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/realestate/heritage-with-a-spray-can/story-fndctkaw-1226433501719 |title=Graffiti granted wall of protection in Sydney |last=Campion |first=Vikki |publisher=The Daily Telegraph |date=July 24, 2012 |access-date=January 1, 2014 }} Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at Norman's funeral in Melbourne in 2006.{{cite news| url=http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/last-stand-for-newtowns-three-proud-people-20100726-10smr.html | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | title=Last stand for Newtown's 'three proud people' | first=Josephine | last=Tovey | date=July 27, 2010}}

On July 16, 2008, Smith and Carlos accepted the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage for the salute at the 2008 ESPY Awards.{{cite news |title=Olympics Black Power Heroes Are Still Waiting for an Apology |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/04/olympics-black-power-heroes-are-still-waiting-for-an-apology.html |website=The Daily Beast |date=August 4, 2016 |access-date=April 6, 2017|last1=Buehrer |first1=Jack }} In 2018, Smith received the Dresden Peace Prize.{{cite web |title=Speech Tommie Smith |url=http://dresdner-friedenspreis.de/speech-tommie-smith/?lang=en |website=Dresden-Preis |access-date=December 11, 2018}}

The [https://ca.milesplit.com/meets/551494-running-rebels-tommie-smith-invitational-2023#.ZFkowOzML6A Tommie Smith Youth Track Meet] is held annually in his honor. It has been both an AAU and USATF-sponsored event, held at the University of California, Berkeley at Edwards Stadium.

[https://hoodline.com/2022/10/sjsu-gets-cash-for-new-track-and-field-facility-and-speed-city-legacy-center-at-the-fairgrounds/ San Jose State University has secured funding to rebuild the] track and field complex. The centerpiece is Speed City Legacy Center,{{Cite web |last=Smith MacDonald |first=Michelle |date=Oct 13, 2022 |title=SJSU Announces $9M for Track, Speed City Legacy Project |url=https://blogs.sjsu.edu/newsroom/2022/sjsu-announces-9m-for-track-speed-city-legacy-project/ |website=SJSU Blog}} which pays tribute to SJSU alumni track stars and civil rights advocates.

• World Athletics Awards - President's award：2020{{Cite web |title=Coe backs athlete protests by giving President’s Award to Smith, Norman and Carlos |url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1101639/coe-smith-carlos-norman-award-protests |website=InsideTheGames |format= |date=5 December 2020}}

• Timeline of the civil rights movement
• Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
• Other American Football League players
• Men's 200 metres world record progression

• {{cite news |url= https://www.npr.org/2018/10/16/657724894/50-years-later-raised-fists-during-national-anthem-still-resonate |title= 50 Years Later, Raised Fists During National Anthem Still Resonate |first=Karen Grigsby |last= Bates |date= October 16, 2018 |work=Morning Edition|publisher = NPR }}
• {{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2018/10/16/a-cry-freedom-black-power-salute-that-rocked-world-years-ago |title= 'A cry for freedom': The Black Power salute that rocked the world 50 years ago |first= DeNeen |last= Brown |date=October 16, 2018 |newspaper=Washington Post }}
• Barra, Allan. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/opinion/23barra.html?ref=opinion "Fists Raised, but Not in Anger"] The New York Times, August 22, 2008
• Thomas, Katie. [http://olympics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/for-australian-athletes-a-voice-from-the-grave/ "For Australian Athletes, a Voice From the Grave"] The New York Times May 23, 2008
• [http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23747461-2,00.html "In-flight film will urge Olympians to protest"], The Daily Telegraph, May 24, 2008
• [http://www.theage.com.au/news/geoff-mcclure/sporting-life/2005/10/16/1129401146439.html "Norman loses his spot in history"], Sporting Life, October 17, 2005
• [http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,20517518-23218,00.html "Norman dies after heart attack"], Fox Sports, October 3, 2006
• [https://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2006-10-03-norman-obit_x.htm "Peter Norman, man on podium for Black Power salute, dies"], USA Today, October 3, 2006
• Reed, Ron. [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20531202-2862,00.html "Norman to receive a final salute"], The Herald Sun, October 6, 2006
• Hoy, Greg. [http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2006/s1760175.htm "Fellow athletes pay tribute to Peter Norman"], Australian Broadcasting Corporation, October 10, 2006
• Blackistone, Kevin B., The Dallas Morning News, August 23, 2008 ([http://www.dallasnews.com/sports_day/olympics/180747_29olyblackistone.html Archived original] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010701060753/http://www.dallasnews.com/sports_day/olympics/180747_29olyblackistone.html |date=July 1, 2001 |title="'68 protest more than a memory" }})
• [http://www.theage.com.au/news/Sport/Peter-Norman-dies-after-heart-attack/2006/10/03/1159641313355.html "Peter Norman dies after heart attack"], The Age, October 3, 2006
• [http://www.smh.com.au/olympics/articles/2004/06/18/1089484304254.html "Bitter price of Olympics' iconic image"], Sydney Morning Herald, October 17, 2003
• Wise, Mike. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR2006100401753.html "Clenched Fists, Helping Hand"], The Washington Post, October 5, 2006
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061101123900/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20550419-2722,00.html "Norman Remembered as an Unflinching Champion"], The Australian, October 9, 2006
• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311020314/http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusspt/ap10-09-061941.asp?spt=oly&vts=10920060724 |date=March 11, 2007 |title="Carlos, Smith act as pallbearers at funeral of podium mate from 1968 Olympics" }}, MSNBC, October 9, 2006 ([http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusspt/ap10-09-061941.asp?spt=oly&vts=10920060724 Archived original])
• Rees, Margaret [http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/oct2006/norm-o23.shtml "Australian athlete supported American civil rights struggle"], World Socialist Web Site, October 23, 2006

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• {{Official website|http://www.tommiesmith.com/}}
• {{World Athletics}}
• {{Olympics.com profile|thomas-c-smith|Thomas C. Smith|org_id=tommie-smith|org_name=Tommie Smith|org_archive=20190426024444}}
• {{Olympedia}}
• {{Team USA Hall of Fame|new_id=tommie-smith|old_id=Tommie-Smith}}

• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5xJELLuo-E Tommie Smith wins the 1968 Olympics men's 200 meters final in 19.83 seconds] via Team USA on YouTube
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvn6txTn1Tg Tommie Smith on his 1968 Olympics gold medal and black power salute] via Team USA on YouTube

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Category:1944 births

Category:Living people

Category:African-American track and field athletes

Category:American male sprinters

Category:World record setters in athletics (track and field)

Category:American football wide receivers

Category:San Jose State Spartans football players

Category:Cincinnati Bengals players

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics

Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field

Category:People from Lemoore, California

Category:Sportspeople from Kings County, California

Category:People from Clarksville, Texas

Category:American memoirists

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Category:Basketball coaches from California

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Category:San Jose State Spartans men's track and field athletes

Category:Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics

Category:Oberlin Yeomen basketball coaches

Category:American Football League players

Category:Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)

Category:FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States

Category:FISU World University Games silver medalists for the United States

Category:Medalists at the 1967 Summer Universiade

Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen

Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen

Category:NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners

Category:Track and field athletes from California

Category:Players of American football from Texas

Category:Players of American football from California