Hank Aaron Among the First Blacks to Play a Full Career in the Major Leagues

Hank Aaron
among the first blacks to play a full career in the major leagues

Jesse Owens
one of the world's greatest track and field athletes

Jackie Robinson
the first black man allowed to play major league baseball.

Althea Gibson
she was the first black woman on the LPGA tour

Arthur Ashe
first African-American male to reach prominence in tennis.

Wilma Rudolph
the first American woman to win 3 gold medals in the Olympics

Muhammad Ali
the only man to ever win the heavyweight crown three times.

Jack Johnson
the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World

Floyd Patterson
the youngest man to win the heavyweight title

Dominique Dawes
first African American to win an individual Olympic gymnastics medal (bronze on floor).

George Foreman
the world's oldest heavyweight champion

Lee Elder
the first black golfer to play in the Masters Tournament

Venus Williams
Champion Tennis Player

Serena Williams
African-American woman to win a Grand Slam title since Althea Gibson in 1958;

Carl Lewis
Tied the record for most gold medals won in the Olympics overall (nine)

Alice Coachman
became the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal with her win in the high jump in 1948

Bill Lewis
first black player to be selected as an All-American Baseball

Fritz Pollard
1st black NFL coach

Sugar Ray Robinson
Robinson became the first man in boxing history to win a divisional (weight class) world championship five times

Jersey Joe Walcott
oldest heavyweight (37) to ever win the championship

Charles Barkley
In 1992 he played for the U.S. “Dream Team,” which won the Olympic gold medal

Wilt Chamberlain
Of the 30 best regular-season scoring performances of all time, he owns 20.

Julius Erving
A spectacular leaper, Erving was the first leading practitioner of the “air” game later exemplified by Michael Jordan

Patrick Ewing
named one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players;

Michael Jordan
Noted especially for his leaping ability, the 6 ft 6 in. (198 cm) Jordan is widely considered the greatest basketball player ever

Larry Doby
first black player in the AL

James (Cool Papa) Bell
widely considered the fastest player ever to play baseball

Cito Gaston
black manager to win Series

Josh Gibson
and to be the only man to have hit a fair ball out of New York's Yankee Stadium