Muhammad Ali Shows Up at the Olympics: Why He’s the Greatest Athlete of All-Time
by Dr. Boyce Watkins
It was over 50 years ago that the great Muhammad Ali held up his own gold medal at the 1960 Olympics. Ali would later go on to become the youngest heavyweight champion in history. Ali showed up again at this year’s Olympic Games, in his old form, with the same old swag that made him the legend that he is today. While he certainly can’t move and talk like he did as a young man, the world knows that on the inside, he’s still one of the most engaging figures in the world.
Ali wore a white suit during the ceremony and looked like a man who is tired and frail. But his presence is powerful. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 30 years ago after being hit in the head so many times during his boxing career. His journey is a warning to young fighters about staying in the sport too long.
Ali’s wife Lonnie was his savior. A woman who’d admired him since she was a little girl stepped in when his last ex-wife abandoned him and took over his business empire. She turned Ali from a tired, broke old athlete into the icon that he is today. Lonnie’s work shows us that a great woman can make a man far better off than he was before. She has truly been his guardian angel.
With Ali being from my hometown of Louisville, my relationship with him has been one that has lasted a lifetime. I remember hearing stories from friends and relatives about Ali’s life as a young man, and I have his picture in my living room, next to my other adopted father, Malcolm X. As a graduate student, I used to read stories about Ali’s life to give me inspiration to overcome the adversity in my own life. My simple philosophy was “If he can overcome all of that, then I can fight through the racism in my own world. These people can’t hold me back if I stick to what I believe in.” So, I was one of those little boys that Ali inspired to realize his own potential and I thank God that he didn’t just live life for himself.
The Olympic appearance by Ali was to raise money for the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, KY. There is also Generation Ali, a social media site to educate young people about the values that Ali embraced. This is the second major appearance by Ali, after his presence at the games in 1996 brought the crowd to their feet in tears. That was 16 years ago, and at that time, he was able to actually walk up the steps and light the torch himself.
Most ironic about Ali’s appearance at the Olympics this year is that he was not quite welcome to the Olympics during the 1960s. In 1968, during the black power protest by John Carlos and Tommy Smith, one of their demands was that Ali be reinstated as world boxing champ. Ali’s title had been taken by the authorities, who wanted him to fight in the Vietnam War.
“When Ali put everything he achieved on the line in difference to his religion and political principles that got attention around the world,” said Sociologist Harry Edwards. “People eventually came to believe Ali was sincere and over time there developed a tremendous degree of unquestioned integrity about him.”
Ali shows all of us that if you stick with what you believe in and never give up, there is always a brighter day around corner. He is also a clear reminder that a great athlete is more than just a man who can run and jump on the field. Instead, he is a man who is willing to fight for something greater than himself.
That’s why, to this day, Muhammad Ali was a runaway favorite ahead of Michael Jordan in the Sports Illustrated vote for the greatest athlete of the last 100 years. He didn’t dominate Jordan because of his skill. Instead, Ali dominated Jordan because he was a greater man than Michael Jordan ever wanted to be. He knew that his real power was not in his arms and legs, but understood the awesome ability of a great athlete to elevate his people and change the world. That’s what true greatness is all about.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.
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Okay I may be the only one, but does any one feel it’s time to retire Muhammad Ali? No disrespect but rolling him out there has become an embarrassment. I see no value in bringing a man out that is nothing more then a shell of himself. It’s time to STOP!!!
Wow!! show your ignorance in public speak. This is an extenstion of the fact that we as Americans are ashamed of the elderly and their contributions to society forgetting that if it weren’t for them there would be no us. In the real world people age and your life, your body changes. so Get over your self pride!
His presence brougt encouragement! It brought hope! It brought old memories of hard work that should be culvated by all. Laurels and praises can be acieved only and through consciousness to hardwork and sincerity of intention!
Muhammad Ali is still the greatest, that is true, but to say that he still have the same swag is untrue.
@Tee, Muhammad Ali is alive! He is more than a shell that should be sat some place quietly until he dies. His life speaks to God’s ability during the great times and during those times when the journey is not as smooth. Mr. Ali should be where ever he wants to be until the Master calls him home. It is my prayer that no one ever presses the “STOP” button on your life before it’s really over!
Well done well said.He is also a hero to me. There are few people I considere to be heroes. Marcus Garvey, Norman Washington Manley Premier of Jamaica, 1955-1962, Michael Manley, Prime Minister,of Jamaica 1972-1980, Mohamid Ali, world champion, and champion of the people. These people spent their lives in the service of the black race. I loved and adore them, and wish we had people like them around today. Unfartunately we may never see the likes of them again.
As far as I am concerned i love Muhammed Ali…he is indeed a icon and inspiration…He will always be the greatest!!!!!…..as long as the man has a breath of air in his body I will always look forward to seeing him out in the public.He is so much more than a fragile elderly man….Please people honor him for his achievements!
Tee
You sound like a fool!! Too late for you!! don’t grow old!! you sound so ignorant!!
One of the GREATEST men to EVER walk the face of this Earth! Still the Greatest.
Mean spirited and ghoulish are the only word I find to describe the folks allowing this spectacle of the great Ali to repeatedly occur.
Tee said it right, can’t agree more:
“… does any one feel it’s time to retire Muhammad Ali? No disrespect but rolling him out there has become an embarrassment. I see no value in bringing a man out that is nothing more then a shell of himself. It’s time to STOP!!!”
Most of us do not realize how assimilated we are and how we pass our overwhelmed/overwhelming assimilation into this Caucasian, ‘white-dominant’ society. We are not only totally immersed in the social structure of the descendants of racist slave-owner social norms but we ignorantly and unconsciously/consciously add into it! Our ancestors were entrapped into it then infected with every aspect of it (especially the superstitious religious aspects of a conquering hoard) to hopelessly and helplessly pass it on to each and every generation. We today find ourselves (some of us) very knowledgeable about some aspects of our history, but are still so overwhelmed by the deep mental infestations of our social benefactors that we are unable to detach the harmful aspect and in fact continue to pass the same negative but functional infections on to the next generations. At this rate we as a “community” are weakened and overly vulnerable to our so-called “benefactors” every whim (including the possible complete annihilation of the ‘African-American’ sector of this society).
So it is apparent that we (many of us ever the ignorant) will keep on playing and committing to the “American” way of life and all of the variables that make up this madness including following and making any kind of big deal of ‘The Olympics’! None of this is meant to improve our existence or well being in this nation, and none of it will invariably do our community any good. This can be guaranteed, although very few (even the learned), will be able to see this reality due to the mentally engrained issues we have been sternly supplanted with. In any case where all humans are concerned, and despite our gross ignorance on many levels. “Lunacy or insanity trumps everything including intellect”.
@Tee
Sometimes comments like yours need to be ignored but not this time. Though you are entitled to your opinion however with love I would deeply like you to consider and understand the importance of what Mr. Ali and what he represents to the American sport. you may not quite understand the contribution in regards to what Mr. Ali has contributed and what we as the America people respect in his character and why so many of us look up to him today. He will probably be the last champion of his time and not to mention his last Olympics appearances to go down in history. “Yeah you are probably right there are probably a quite of few people like you that share your opinion” But just think Tee and I would like you to be real with yourself for a minute. What if our whole society thought like you just did a second ago. Where would our country be? Muhammad Ali laid down a foundation of hard work towards his craft he expressed good character as well as good integrity. He shared his life with the world through a sport call boxing. Not to mention his ability to become a great humanitarian by giving his time and his contributions to third world countries. Tee open your eyes to the intricate things he’s doing right now with the fight for his life. He probably could have giving up and died a long time ago but you are missing the fight he still has in him today. He’s fighting for other individuals who carry the same disease as he does today. He was a champion in the ring and he is a champion outside of the ring. So Tee if you get older and you feel like life has pass you by I would like you to remember Muhammad Ali and his fight outside of the ring towards life. “Float like a butterfly sting like a bee rumble young man rumble”
Long Live the Spirit of Muhammad Ali; whose moral conscience challenged and defeated the tyranny of warmongers and whose physical prowess challenged and most often defeated the best his sport had to offer. The iconic Ali will, like Her-Em-Akhet, stand for thousands of years while the imbecilic incantations of mental midgets will find their proper resting place in an abyss of asininity.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=when+we+were+kings&mid=A8371EC0DAFF395F5973A8371EC0DAFF395F5973&view=detail&FORM=VIRE6
When athletes placed conscience above cowardice, popularity, and self-aggrandizement:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1105/bill.russell.rare.photos/content.6.html
The great Bill Russell, Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bobby Mitchell and others, including Mayor Carl Stokes show their support for Muhammad Ali.
Mr Ali gave up his career and the way he made money to stand for what he believed in. Yes roll him out as many times as you have to until he no longer have a whisper of wind. I would love to see him than those who are so into themselves.
Money isn’t everything that a person can give. He gave a real gift himself and his stand for manhood. He was not acting like a coward he stood against the government. Most of the men now aday can not even stand against anything in the city where they live. Please Tee grow up and and then man up for something. Another thing when did we start being ashamed of our elders. If it weren’t for them a lot of us would not have had a roof over our heads. Because our parents were to busy thinking like you. And we do not hide people in our families who have a disability. Are they not family to? Where is your thinking on Wall Street is sure not family and a loving community.
Mohammed Ali had something magic called “charisma” to add to his athletic abilities. He portrayed this asset with (tongue in the cheek) wit and intelligence.
He became a well-liked and admired public figure, greater than his sporting achievements and ability. He took no s**t, he told it as it was. He became loved and admired around the world for both his personality and his boxing skill.
That he was struck down in the prime of life by this delibiltating condition is terribly sad, but his continuing presence continues to inspire those of us old enough to remember the man he is, and to fondly remember the twinkle of his eyes, the sharpness of his ready wit, and the skill and speed of his punches. He is a unique human being deserving of far greater respect than suggested by many of the comments presented here. Those making such comments would do well to bear in mind that, with good furtune, they too will eventually become old and frail if their “smart” mouths don’t provoke a premature end.
these tired days..atheletes..just do have..the courage….nor the motivation..to speak upon the gross injustices…endured by not only..the masses..of black people..but the injustices…done to average americans..on a everyday basis..this is driven…by the fear of them..being labeled….and or blackballed/ostrasized…by advertisers…of big businessess…and the fear of loss of…that big$$$$…that their agents/money managers…..and image consultants frown upon…being controversial..and or provacative…which is follwed to the letter…by..mostly all atheletes……
Floyd Patterson was younger than Muhammad Ali when he won the Heavyweight title. He is still the youngest person to hold the undisputed title.
Mike Tyson is the youngest heavyweight champion ever.
Part 1 of 2
I picked Sonny Liston to defeat Cassius Clay in 1964. I am proud to admit I was wrong – and the rest is
history. The Greatest changed his name to Muhammad Ali in 1964 after dispatching Big Bad Sonny Liston, and winning the heavyweight championship of the world.
I became a huge Muhammad Ali fan in the mid-60s because he was colorful, brash, courageous, bold, humorous, and a man of principle in a political context. Ali was also a bigtime winner in the squared circle.
I was inspired by Ali’s stand against America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. I am still in awe of the courage Ali displayed in challenging the power of the US Government as an individual on his miltary draft status in 1967.
Part 2
Even in defeat against Joe Frazier on March 8, 1971 at MSG, Ali won the hearts and souls of millions because he performed like a warrior in the ring. After the fight Berry Gordy and Diana Ross visited Ali’s hotel room where the defeated Ali was laying on his bed. Diana Ross of the Supremes was at the foot of Ali’s bed weeping because our champ had lost the bout.