After withdrawing from East Texas State, claiming racial prejudice, John Carlos enrolled at San Jose State. At the 1967 Pan American Games he won gold in the 200 metres event. His finest performance was 19.7 (19.92) for the 200 metres at the 1968 Final Trials which, although 3/10ths of a second inside the world record, was never ratified because Carlos was wearing illegal brush spikes. During the Olympic medal presentation in Mexico City, Carlos and 200 metre winner, Tommie Smith, stood at attention, but raised black-gloved fists in the “Black Power” salute, hoping to call attention to the plight of the black man in America. For this, they were banned from the Olympic Village. In 1969, Carlos won the AAU and NCAA 220y and equalled the world record for the indoor 60y and the outdoor 100y. He made several abortive efforts to play in the NFL and did play for a few years with the Montréal Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. In 2019 Carlos and Smith were inducted into the USOPC Hall of Fame, a measure of retribution and apology for the censure they had faced 51 years earlier.
Personal Bests: 100y – 9.1 (1969); 100 – 10.0 (1968); 200 – 19.92 (1968); 440y – 47.0 (1967).
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