America is Athletic
History Behind America's Athleticism
First U.S. Olympic Team
These first Olympians get very little credit for the fact that, the coverage of those games were very spotty and inconsistent. The competetors were asked to make reports of the games. "Imagine the modern equivalent: “Hey LeBron, if you aren’t particularly busy, could you send us a report of the game?”. Also the cameras of this time were consistently capable of caputuring the games. Another factor could've been the personality of the competetors. These men were humble guys. Most of them went back to school or went on with normal life and didn't boast on their achievements in Athens.
Athletics Used For Bigger Causes
In 1968, the Olympics were held in Mexico City, where Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood atop the award podium after winning gold and bronze. They stood there as the American national anthem played with their heads bowed and fist raised with black gloves on them. Millions of americans were outraged, but “We were just human beings who saw a need to bring attention to the inequality in our country,” Smith said years later, in a documentary on the 1968 Mexico City games produced for HBO.
In December of 2014, NBA player wore shirts during shoot around with the quote "I can't breathe" on them. Monday night, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Garnett, Deron Williams, Jarrett Jack and Alan Anderson joined James, wearing the shirts before the Cavs-Nets game in Brooklyn. Outside the Barclays Center, about 200 protesters marched and chanted “I Can’t Breathe!” and “No justice! No peace! No racist police!”“You hear the slogan ‘NBA cares’ and it’s more evident than now to show some support,” Garnett said. “Obviously we’re not on the front line of this movement, but I think it’s important being from these communities and supporting these communities.”