John Wesley Carlos was born on June 5,1945 and is an American former track and field athlete and professional American football player.
20 Facts About John Carlos
2.
John Carlos was the bronze-medal winner in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics, where he displayed the Black Power salute on the podium with Tommie Smith.
3.
John Carlos went on to tie the world record in the 100-yard dash and beat the 200 meters world record.
4.
John Carlos became involved with the United States Olympic Committee and helped to organize the 1984 Summer Olympics.
5.
John Carlos is the author, with sportswriter Dave Zirin, of The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World, published in 2011 by Haymarket Books.
6.
John Carlos's mother, Vioris, was born in Jamaica West Indies to Black Cuban parents and grew up in Santiago, Cuba.
7.
John Carlos was awarded an honorary doctorate from California State University in 2008.
8.
John Carlos won the 200-meter dash in 19.92 seconds, beating world-record holder Tommie Smith and surpassing his record by 0.3 seconds.
9.
John Carlos became a founding member of the Olympic Project for Human Rights, and originally advocated a boycott 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.
10.
John Carlos 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.
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John Carlos was featured on the cover of Track and Field News' May 1969 issue.
12.
John Carlos was the gold medalist at 200 meters at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and set indoor world bests in the 60-yard dash and the indoor 220-yard dash.
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John Carlos then went on to the Canadian Football League where he played one season for the Montreal Alouettes.
14.
In 1985, John Carlos became a counselor and in-school suspension supervisor, as well as the track and field coach, at Palm Springs High School in California.
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In 2006, John Carlos delivered a eulogy at Peter Norman's funeral and was a pallbearer at the ceremony, as was Tommie Smith.
16.
In 2007, John Carlos was honored at the Trumpet Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada.
17.
John Carlos is the godfather of Chicago White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams.
18.
On October 10,2011, John Carlos spoke and raised his fist at Occupy Wall Street.
19.
In July 2018, John Carlos attended the Socialism 2018 conference hosted by the International Socialist Organization.
20.
John Carlos married his first wife, Karen Benjamin "Kim" Groce, in 1965 when the two were still in high school.