Icons Beamon, Carlos recall how they transcended sports
It was 53 years ago this month when Bob Beamon and John Carlos etched their names in Olympic track and field history. One is remembered for what he accomplished on the track at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. The other, for the stand he made off the track.
As a former track athlete, I was eager to listen as Beamon and Carlos joined former Hampton Roads standouts Charles Hatcher and Argle “A.B.” Whitfield in a roundtable discussion last week as part of Whitfield’s Annual
Trey Whitfield Foundation Dinner. The event, which honors Whitfield’s son, raised money for academic scholarships, community outreach programs and support.
Hatcher was a former Norview basketball standout who was named a second-team All-American in 1965 by Pepsi-Cola, and was the first Black player in the heavily segregated Eastern District to be named the “Most Outstanding Basketball Player.” Whitfield starred in football, wrestling and track for both Norcom High in Portsmouth and Elizabeth City State, and was inducted into the CIAA Hall of Fame.
The four gathered in New York City to discuss many topics, including the achievements and activism of Beamon, 75, and Carlos, 76.
Beamon couldn’t read or write until he was 13 years old. He got into trouble, joined a gang and was headed down the wrong path.
“To grow up disadvantaged with no hope, there’s nowhere to go,” he said he remembers thinking. “It got so bad that they took me out of regular school and put me in a system school.”
But others wouldn’t let him fall through the cracks, including New York Congressman Edolphus “Ed” Towns Jr., who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2013. They all continued to push Beamon.
“I could have turned out to be a pimp or a drug addict,” Beamon said. “But sports became somewhat of a backbone for me. Whether I won or lost, I wanted to be somebody very special . ... In order to be successful, you have to feel good about yourself.”
Beamon later attended Jamaica High School and became an All-American. He competed at North Carolina A&T and later at Texas-El Paso.
Fifteen miles north in Harlem, New York, Carlos “found his way.” He admits he got into his share of trouble as well.
And like Beamon, he straightened his life out thanks to sports.
Carlos always dreamed he could make it to the Olympics, but not on the track. He wanted to swim. He soon realized, however, that his skin color wouldn’t allow it. Not only was there an absence of pools in his neighborhood, but many whites discouraged him from trying.
So he turned to track and earned a scholarship to East Texas State and later to San Jose State.
Carlos and Beamon crossed paths several times, and they formed a friendship before they arrived in Mexico City.
Once there, Carlos’ historic moment came first when he earned the bronze medal in the 200 meters. USA teammate Tommie Smith won the gold.
During the award ceremony, they courageously stood up for racial equality on the world’s largest stage during the civil rights movement with their blackgloved fists raised in the air.
Their actions were met by
anger from many, but Carlos knew he was standing for something bigger than himself.
“When you think about my stance at that particular time, what I would like to see relative to today is to make [athletes] understand that some think they have no power with their athleticism, which is totally false,” said Carlos, who along with Smith and sociologist and civil rights leader Dr. Harry Edwards became a founding member of the Olympic Project for Human Rights. “[People] missed the concept of Mexico. In 1968, we made a stand. And our stance was based on humanity . ... It didn’t say Black rights, white rights or red rights — but human rights.”
Beamon watched Carlos and Smith on the awards stand.
“John was so far ahead of the Black movement,” said Beamon, who lost his scholarship when he and eight UTEP teammates boycotted a meet against BYU because of the Book of Mormon’s views on Black people. “And when John and Tommy stood up with the fist and the black glove, it represented so much. It was critical . ... John and Tommy made the world understand what was happening in this country. There should have been so much more respect for what they did. And what they stood for is happening again today.”
Two days later, it was Beamon’s turn. He remembers the moment like it was yesterday.
“It was a proud moment in my
life when I stood up at the Olympic Games in 1968 because I had no idea that I would be there,” said Beamon, who nearly didn’t qualify for the finals after he fouled on his first two jumps. “I ran down the runway in the long jump, and I went off the board and jumped up in the air.
“After I landed, I trotted out of the pit and waited around to see what the measurement would be. It took about 35-40 minutes before they could make the mark because the mark was too long for the electronic tape.”
Beamon, like some American athletes, didn’t know much about the metric system. So when his mark was posted, he had no idea how long it was.
He wasn’t alone.
“I had no clue what he jumped, but I knew where the world record was because it had a marker there,” Carlos said. “[Afterward], everybody was going crazy, and they looked at me and someone said, ‘You guys aren’t familiar with the metric system.’ And then he wrote it on a piece of paper for me, and I smiled.”
Beamon had just jumped 29 feet, 2 ½ inches, nearly 22 inches farther than the previous record.
It’s still the oldest Olympic record in track and field, and it stood as the world record for almost 23 years until Mike Powell broke it in 1991 at 29 feet, 4¼ inches.
Beamon’s world-record jump was named by Sports Illustrated
as one of the five greatest sports moments of the 20th century.
“It’s awesome. It’s unthinkable,” he says now. “I’ll tell you, I’ll never forget it.”
On the medal stand, Beamon raised his fist in solidarity in a nod to Smith and Carlos.
It took years for Carlos to get his proper recognition. In 2008, he accepted the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the ESPY Awards. In 2016, he was recognized at the White House by President Barack Obama.
“It’s a great feeling to know that people think you did something that was greater than sports,” he said.
Carlos and Beamon have collaborated on a project that will come out sometime next year.
Both said they want to be remembered for more than just their athletic achievements.
“I want to be remembered for John Carlos the man, period,” he said. “We should be more concerned, not so much about today, as we should be concerned about being on the right side of history in the end.”
Added Beamon: “I want to be remembered for my conscience and for what I gave my life to, but also be remembered for some of the things I sacrificed for. I lost my scholarship and I still remained focused. It’s more than just the sports part of it.”