Tommie Smith: An American icon

Metro Atlanta

Tommie Smith is the American sprinter who, at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City won the 200-meter race in a record time of 19.83 seconds. Then Smith, along with team mate John Carlos, hoisted his black-gloved hand to the sky during the playing of the National Anthem. A look at where Smith is now.

Tommie Smith of Stone Mountain has announced he's selling his Olympic gold medal. Gold medal? Most people don't recognize the man, seen here in the basement of his Stone Mountain home, a place that he calls 'the Gallery.'

But give them a minute and it becomes clear. Smith is the American sprinter who, at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City won the 200-meter race in a record time of 19.83 seconds.

Then Smith, along with team mate John Carlos, hoisted a black-gloved fist to the sky during the playing of the National Anthem.

The show of black solidarity makes the medal, which Smith keeps hidden in an old wooden cabinet, even more significant and could raise the price at auction.

"I felt there would be repercussions, but I didn't know how much," said Smith who was expelled from the Olympic Village and kicked off the team. "I didn't think I had done anything wrong to go home, but leaving was the best thing for me. I was scared the whole time."

Upon his arrival back home Smith said he was a pariah. Contracts and contacts kind of faded away and jobs were nil.

Smith retreated. His raised fist became an iconic symbol of the black struggle in the 60s. Student Kwasi Davis, 12, raises his fist before Smith speaks to students at Paul D. West Middle School.

Smith says he is now far removed from the Games, although he did carry the Olympic Flame on a leg of the Torch Relay before the 1996 Olympics.

In 2005, Smith retired from Santa Monica College where he taught sociology and health. He and his wife Delois Jordan-Smith (far right) moved to Atlanta yet are hardly ever here due to speaking engagements and interviews to promote his autobiography, "Silent Gesture."

To the public, Smith is one of those iconic figures everybody knows, but don't know. That's okay for Smith who says: "I have already made my stand."

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Tommie Smith of Stone Mountain has announced he's selling his Olympic gold medal. Gold medal? Most people don't recognize the man, seen here in the basement of his Stone Mountain home, a place that he calls 'the Gallery.'

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