100 years ago, Cincinnati's DeHart Hubbard became first Black athlete to win Olympic gold

One hundred years ago, DeHart Hubbard of Avondale made history as the first Black athlete to win an individual Olympic gold medal when he won the long jump at the 1924 Olympic Games .

Those Games were held in Paris that summer, the same as this year . But the Olympic landscape looked very different.

Hubbard blazed a trail for Black athletes that wasn’t always easy or fair. His nephew, former Cincinnati mayor Ken Blackwell, told NBC News that Hubbard qualified to compete in the 100-meter dash and high hurdles, but was kept out of the events due to racism.

“When he got here, he was told that the 100 and the high hurdle were white-only events,” Blackwell said. “He couldn’t compete.”

While others told him he couldn’t do something, he knew in his heart he could. And he did – all the way to the gold medal stand.

Hubbard should still be a household name in Cincinnati, but he isn’t. His story needs to be told often and loudly. There’s a plaque dedicated to Hubbard down at the Riverfront Transit Center located underneath Second Street near the stadiums, but crowds don’t usually go down there.

A century after his milestone victory, let’s honor his legacy.

Here is what I wrote about him back in 2016 :

How DeHart Hubbard's long jump made history

DeHart Hubbard leaped into the Olympic record books in 1924 as the first Black athlete to win an individual gold medal.

The Avondale native was well known in the neighborhood for his speed and athleticism.

Robert Crawford, who attended the same all-Black Douglass School in Walnut Hills as Hubbard, told The Enquirer in 1996: “To us kids, DeHart was Superman. Still is, really. People have heard of Jesse Owens. They know Carl Lewis. But before Jesse, before Lewis, there was DeHart Hubbard.”

At Walnut Hills High School, Hubbard excelled at several sports but faced opposition.

In that 1996 Enquirer story, his teammate George Mason recalled a carload of men arriving at football practice to tell the only Black player he was ineligible. The team unanimously decided if Hubbard couldn’t play, none of them would play and they sat out the season.

The Cincinnati Enquirer had a hand in sending Hubbard to college. The newspaper held a contest awarding scholarships to the students who sold the most subscriptions. Hubbard placed in the top 10 with the help of Michigan alum Lon Berringer, who contacted his fellow Wolverines to buy Enquirer subscriptions.

At the University of Michigan, Hubbard concentrated on track. His best event was the long jump, and the university had to extend the long-jump pit beyond 25 feet to accommodate his leaps.

He qualified for the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris with high hopes. Just before departing for Europe, Hubbard wrote to his family : “I’m going to do my best to be the FIRST COLORED OLYMPIC CHAMPION.”

His jump in the Olympic finals wasn’t his best (24 feet, 5.25 inches), but it was enough to win the gold and make history. The next year Hubbard set the world record for long jump (25 feet, 10.75 inches), which stood for three years.

Hubbard worked for the Cincinnati Recreation Commission, and in 1937 started the Cincinnati Tigers, a Negro League baseball team . He moved to Cleveland in 1941 to be the racial relations advisor to the Federal Housing Authority and died in 1976.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 100 years ago, Cincinnati's DeHart Hubbard became first Black athlete to win Olympic gold