Category: Sports

African-American swimmer Cullen Jones won his first individual Olympic medal, claiming silver with a time of 21.54 seconds in the men’s 50-meter freestyle race at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Jones won a gold medal as a member of the 4×100 freestyle relay during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. His performance in […]

The U.S. national men’s basketball team remained undefeated (4-0) in the 2012 Olympic Games after barely escaping with a 99-94 victory over Lithuania on Aug. 4 in London. Forward LeBron James scored 20 points, including nine points scored in the last four minutes of the game, as USA erased a late deficit for the comeback […]

Floyd Mayweather Jr. was released from Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas, Nev. on Aug. 3 after serving 60 days of a 90-day sentence for a misdemeanor domestic battery charge. The superstar boxer was released early from his full sentence for good behavior. According to reports, Nevada state law may allow inmates to receive […]

Some had called it the worst Olympic boxing ruling since Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s controversial semifinal loss during the 1996 Olympic Games. Errol Spence, an African-American welterweight boxer for the U.S. national team, had lost his fight against Indian boxer Krishan Vikas Aug. 3, eliminating the U.S. chances of winning a boxing medal in this summer’s […]

Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers called it the most prolific offensive performance in the history of USA basketball. That’s how he described the U.S. national men’s basketball team’s third victory of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, as the Americans crushed Nigeria, 156-73. Team USA now owns the Olympic record for most points scored in a […]

U.S. gymnast Gabby Douglas made history on Aug. 2 becoming the first Black person of any nationality to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual gymnastic event, claiming her second gold medal of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Douglas won her first gold medal on July 31 as a member of the […]

Women’s Basketball Seimone Augustus, age 28, studied at Louisiana State University http://www.london2012.com/athlete/augustus-seimone-1133206/ Swin Cash, age 32, studied at University of Connecticut http://www.london2012.com/athlete/cash-swin-1133425/ Tamika Catchings, age 33, studied at University of Tennessee http://www.london2012.com/athlete/catchings-tamika-1133428/ Tina Charles, age 23, studied at University of Connecticut  http://www.london2012.com/athlete/charles-tina-1133450/ Sylvia Fowles, age 26, studied at Louisiana State University  http://www.london2012.com/athlete/fowles-sylvia-1132897/ Asjha Jones, age […]

The U.S. national men’s basketball team advanced to the 2-0 level in the 2012 Olympic Games routing Tunisia, 110-63, on July 31 in London. Six different Team USA players scored double digits as they blew away their opponent by 47 points. Forward and Baltimore native son Carmelo Anthony and center/forward Kevin Love both came off […]

With nearly 100 African-American athletes representing the U.S. at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, a gold medal winner won’t be a surprise. Claiming Olympic gold isn’t new in the Black community; African Americans have been winning gold medals since 1908. The AFRO chronicles the first Black Olympian gold medal winners here as a […]

The U.S. has seen several African-American women dominate in the Olympics, from the Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s gold medal performance in the heptathlon during the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona to Dominique Dawes’ dominance in gymnastics during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. But both Kersee’s and Dawes’ successes came only after Alice Coachman became the first […]

Today, the title for the fastest African-American man to compete on a track would probably go to Olympic Gold medal sprinter Tyson Gay, who holds the American record in the 100 meter dash with a time 9.69 seconds. But more than a century ago—long before Gay was born, it was John Baxter Taylor who held […]