More than 40 years since John Carlos and Tommie Smith made their silent, closed glove, “Black Power” salute at the Mexico City Games in 1968, ESPN has produced a documentary about the act that reverberated throughout the Olympic community and the world–”Return to Mexico City,” which will air on February 15 at 4pm and several more times throughout February. The film talks with Carlos and Smith and reviews the turmoil that followed them after Mexico City.
The pair received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY Awards in 2008.
(© Newscom)

The controversy surrounding the ages of the Gold-Medal-winning Chinese womens gymnastic team is continuing. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) are examining whether He Kexin and Yang Yilin were truly the required 16 years required to compete at the Olympics. They have also expanded their inquiry to include the Chinese competitors at the 2000 Sydney Games, where China won a Bronze Medal. They are examining whether Yang Yun and Dong Fangxiao on that squad were old enough to compete.
A spokeswoman for the FIG, Emmanuelle Moreau told the Associated Press on Wednesday at the inquiry “is a work in progress. Until …read more

A look at how the Olympic Games were revived in the late 19th century and a little about the early Games:

A guest blog from Kevin Hunter, of b5media’s “College Fast Break“:
As Kobe, LeBron, Wade and Company try too bring back the gold and make up for the 2004 debacle where we can home without it for only the third time in history, it reminds me of the last great U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball team that won the gold medal.
Prior to the Dream Team and when the Olympics was truly for amateur competition (at least in the U.S.), we sent our best college basketball players to take on the best in the world where we easily showed them who was boss.
The …read more

Before he was Muhammad Ali, before he was “The Greatest,” he was an Olympic boxer named Cassius Clay. Clay won the light heavyweight boxing Gold Medal at the 1960 Games in Rome, defeating Polish boxer, Zigzy Pietrzykowski in a close match. Take a look:

Ethiopian long-distance runner, Abebe Bikila was a late addition in the Olympic marathon event at the 1960 Games in Rome. His team-issued shoes were uncomfortable so he decided to run the 26-mile race barefoot–and he won it, making him the first East African to win an Olympic medal. Bikila went on to repeat as the Gold Medalist at the 1964 Games (this time with shoes). Below are the highlights of his 1960 run:

All by himself, Michael Johnson crosses the finish line to win the 400m final at the 1996 Atlanta Games. It’s another memorable Olympic moment. Take a look:

Our final look at past Olympic opening ceremonies before the Beijing Games begin tomorrow: the Opening Ceremonies at Athens in 2004. Take a look:

Another in our series of Olympic opening ceremonies, here is the torch lighting at the Sydney Games:

Brief snippets of this Olympic moment have been played here and there as we lead up to the Beijing Games. If you missed the original at the 1992 Barcelona Games, here’s the entire scene when an injured Derek Redmond of Britain finishes the 400m semi-final on the shoulder of his father. Take a look: