Hi and welcome to the last day of this year's Black History Spotlight! I'm ending things with an athlete today and I was trying to find a sport that is either not often associated with the Black community, or focus on a star who isn't often mentioned anymore when you talk about the sport. That brings me to today's sport, which is more of the latter. Three names immediately come to mind for me when I think about the African-American presence in tennis, but today's entrant paved the way for all of them.
Name: Althea Gibson, 1927-2003
Profession: Tennis player
Why is the Spotlight on her today? For breaking down barriers in both tennis and golf and her impact on both sports
Notables and accomplishments:
--Was the first African-American to win a Grand Slam
--Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame
--Was one of the most popular athletes of her time and arguably one of the best athletes of all-time
--Received the Theodore Roosevelt Award from the National Collegiate Athletic Association and was the first woman to be honored with it
--Had a second-place finish at the 1970 Buick Open, which marked the closest an African-American female golfer ever came to winning an LPGA event
--Was the first African-American to play in the US National Championship
--Served on the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
--Was the first Wimbledon women's champion to have her award presented to her by Queen Elizabeth II
--Held the American Tennis Association women's singles championship for 10 straight years
--Was nominated for the US Peace Tour to Asian nations
--Had a commemorative stamp created in her honor in 2013
--Was the first African-American golfer in the Ladies Professional Golf Association, but didn't have quite the success she had in tennis
--Won a total of 11 Grand Slams throughout her career
--Was the first African-American to enter both the Forest Hills and Wimbledon tournaments
--Signed a pro golf contract with Dunlop
--Was a recipient of New York's Bronze Medallion, the highest civilian award
--Held a total of 56 national and international wins throughout her career
--Was one of the LPGA's top winners for years
--Was the first African-American to be voted Female Athlete of the Year by the AP
--Served as New Jersey's Athetic Commissioner
Research resources and further reading links:
The African-American Almanac | The Famous People | ESPN | Britannica | ESPN
Quote of the Day:
"Shaking hands with the Queen of England was a long way from being forced to sit in the colored section of the bus going into downtown Wilmington, North Carolina."
--Althea Gibson
No comments:
Post a Comment