HBCUs and the Olympics: From London 1948 To Paris 2024

One of the most prestigious honors in all of sports is to be a member of an Olympic team, and to compete once every four years representing your country against the best athletic competition in the world. Track and field is the sport, more than any other, considered to be foundational in defining the Olympics games. Against all odds – in terms of athletic budgets, resources, and training facilities – HBCUs have produced more than 140 athletes who have competed in Olympics track and field events, representing the United States and close to a score of other countries in the Black diaspora. Twenty-five HBCUs, roughly one in every four, have produced track and field Olympians. Among the more well known are Alice Coachman (Tuskegee), Wilma Rudolph, Ralph Boston, Wyomia Tyus, and Willye White (Tennessee State), Bob Hayes (Florida A&M), Jim Hines (Texas Southern), Edwin Moses (Morehouse), Lee Calhoun and Larry Black (North Carolina Central), Willie Davenport (Southern) and Tim Montgomery (Norfolk State). Coaches such as Ed Temple and Nell Jackson (Tennessee State), Eddie Hurt (Morgan), Leroy T. Walker (North Carolina Central), Joseph Henderson (Alabama A&M) and George Williams (St. Augustine’s) are somewhat lesser known to the general public, though all...