Black Voices: News, Culture & Community from Across the Nation
By Jordan Meadows
Staff Writer
William DeHart Hubbard was the first African American to win an individual gold medal in the Olympic Games, claiming victory in the long jump at the 1924 Paris Olympics.
Born on November 25, 1903, Hubbard showed early promise both academically and athletically while attending Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati. It was there that his story began to intersect with Lon Barringer, a University of Michigan alumnus, who was so impressed by newspaper articles on Hubbard’s achievements that he helped him win a scholarship through a creative effort involving a Cincinnati Enquirer subscription contest.
One of the key supporters in that drive was Branch Rickey, later known for breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier by signing Jackie Robinson.
With the scholarship secured, Hubbard entered the University of Michigan in 1921 and quickly made history again, becoming the school’s first Black varsity track letterman. Despite being the only African American on the track team, Hubbard’s dominance was undeniable. He captured three NCAA championships, eight Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) titles, and seven Big Ten Conference crowns. His long jump of 25 feet 10½ inches in 1925 stood as the university record until 1980.
That same year, he also broke the world record in the long jump with a leap of 25 feet 10⅞ inches, and would later unofficially surpass the elusive 26-foot mark, though officials invalidated that jump on a technicality. In addition, he tied the world record in the 100-yard dash.
But Hubbard’s most iconic moment came in 1924 in Paris. In a segregated and often hostile Olympic environment, Hubbard endured racial discrimination that barred him from competing in multiple events he had qualified for, including the 100-meter dash and the high hurdles. Despite these injustices, he focused on the long jump—an event he was determined to win. Battling injury and the pressure of a recently broken world record, he triumphed with a jump of 24 feet 6 inches, securing his place in history.
“Tell Papa I got his letter… Tell him I’m going to do my best to be the FIRST COLORED OLYMPIC CHAMPION,” Hubbard wrote to his mother before departing for France.
Jesse Owens, who would shatter records and make his own stand for racial equality at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, followed in Hubbard’s footsteps. Owens would eventually break Hubbard’s Big Ten long jump record in 1935, but even Owens knew he was standing on the foundation that Hubbard had built.
After his graduation with honors in 1927, Hubbard returned to Ohio, where he spent decades in public service. He worked as the supervisor of the Department of Colored Work for the Cincinnati Public Recreation Commission, founded the Cincinnati Tigers Negro League baseball team, and served as a race relations adviser for the Federal Housing Authority in Cleveland until his retirement in 1969.
In later years, he was elected president of the National Bowling Association from 1956 to 1958, showing his lifelong love of sport never dimmed. Hubbard passed away in 1976.
In 1979, he was posthumously inducted into both the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor. His fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, later established a scholarship in his name at the University of Michigan to support future generations of scholars and athletes.
Today, his great-granddaughter, actress Maahra Hill (known for roles in The Irrational, Delilah, and Black-ish), reflects on his quiet greatness with deep admiration.
“He was modest. He prioritized his family. He was the type of man who would come over at six in the morning with donuts, make waffles and pancakes, and make sure his grandkids were on top of their schoolwork so they could go to college. His interests were more about making sure that they succeeded than what he had accomplished.”
Hill also shared how the memory of his Olympic triumph gives her a deeper appreciation for today’s athletes:
“He ended up having a sleepless night about the fact that he wasn’t going to secure the gold and the world record at the same time… But that news gave him a renewed sense of purpose.”
That renewed sense of purpose propelled Hubbard to blaze trails and quietly, without fanfare, lift up those around him.
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