The Globe and Mail

JIM THORPE

An icon of American natives and perhaps the classic “all-around athlete” of all time, Thorpe (born 1888) was of mixed native (Sac and Fox) and European heritage. He's often considered one of the top athletes of the 20th century.

At the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, he won gold medals in decathlon and pentathlon, later revoked for violations of the rule against playing sports professionally – it was enforced unevenly, and many considered the decision racist. In 1982, the medals were finally returned to his family.

He went on to play professional football, baseball and basketball, act in films and advocate for native American causes, though he declined due to alcoholism before his death in 1953.

(The Associated Press)

JESSE OWENS

The African-American track-and-field athlete (born 1913) famously won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, under the resentful eye of Adolph Hitler. But when he returned to a tickertape parade in New York, he had to ride the hotel freight elevator to the reception in his honour.

The next couple of decades were difficult financially but he eventually opened a successful public-relations firm in the 1950s.

Late in life, he was awarded the Medal of Freedom.

(AFP)

JACKIE ROBINSON

Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in 1919 in Georgia. He played a season with the Negro Baseball League in 1945, and lived in Montreal while he played with the Royals in 1946. Robinson then joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, breaking the National League’s colour barrier. While he wasn’t the first black athlete to play in the major leagues – Fleet Walker and his brother, Welday, both played a season in the American Association in 1884 – Robinson became the face of racial integration in American professional sports.

Robinson was the NL’s Rookie of the Year in 1947, and was chosen as the league’s most valuable player in 1949. He also won the batting title in 1949, with an average of .342.

Robinson was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.

(Sources: jackierobinson.com, baseball-reference.com, Reuters)

(The Associated Press)

ALTHEA GIBSON

Born 1927, Althea Gibson became a professional tennis player at age 31. She was the first black tennis player to win Wimbleton (in 1957) and the U.S. Open (1958), and picked up five Grand Slam titles in total throughout her tennis career.

In 1957, Gibson was the first African-American woman to be selected as the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.
Gibson later became a professional golf player and was the first African-American woman to join the LPGA.

She was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971.

(Source: altheagibson.com)

(The Associated Press)

TIGER WOODS

Woods turned professional in 1996. Since then, he has won 95 tournaments, 71 of those on the PGA Tour. In 2001, Woods became the first player to hold all four professional major championships simultaneously: the Masters Tournament, the PGA Tournament, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship.

Woods was the first major championship winner of African or Asian heritage, and at 21, was the youngest-ever Masters champ.

He was named the Associated Press Athlete of the Decade in 2009.

However, after a sex scandal erupted around him in late 2009, his return to golf mid-2010 and ever since has seen his performance much diminished.


(Source: web.tigerwoods.com)

(Jack Dabaghian/Reuters)

YAO MING

Yao Ming was the No. 1 pick in the 2002 NBA draft. The former Houston Rockets player was named to eight NBA All-Star teams during his career. He also played in three Olympic Games and carried the Chinese flag during the opening ceremonies in Beijing in 2008.

Yao had played six years with the Chinese national team before joining the Rockets and was already a star in his home country.

The 7-foot-6 centre also expanded the NBA's influence in China, creating lucrative merchandise sales for the league and TV ratings that skyrocketed whenever the Rockets played.

Yao retired in 2011 due to chronic injuries to his left foot.

(Source: The Associated Press)

(Donna McWilliam/The Associated Press)

JAROME IGINLA

Canada's Jarome Iginla grew up in the Edmonton suburb of St. Albert. After a junior career with the Kamloops Blazers, he was drafted by the Dallas Stars in 1995 in the first round as 11th overall (while still playing with the Blazers), then traded to the Calgary Flames, where he’s spent his career.

Iginla became the NHL’s first black captain in the 2003-2004 season. Among other awards, he has won the Maurice Richard Trophy (for the league’s top goal scorer) twice.

Iginla has also won a gold medal with the Canadian world juniors’ team in 1996, and two Olympic gold medals in 2002 and 2010.

In April, 2011, Iginla became the 77th player in NHL history to record 1,000 career points. In January, 2012, he became the 42nd player in NHL history to score 500 goals.

(Sources: The Hockey Hall of Fame, flames.nhl.com)

(Todd Korol/Reuters)