This article is part our series, Tokyo OlympicsFormiga participated in the 1996 Olympic women's soccer tournament. Her seventh Games, which broke the previous record, began last week.Brazilian footballer is just one example of many Black athletes who have made Olympic history, whether they are the first, the record-setters, or the most decorated. These feats were often achieved in spite of their environment. Black women athletes are often subject to racism, sexism or both, depending on where they live.Formiga was born in the midst of a ban on women's soccer in her country. American Alice Coachman was the first Black woman to win a gold medal in soccer. Ada dos Santos could have won the 1964 Olympic gold medal if she had been given guidance, an interpreter and a uniform. In the Tokyo Games, she was fourth in high jump.Athletics is still a poor cousin to national sport. So imagine what it was like back then, dos Santos shared with Universo Online. Poor and Black me, a woman.Many black women athletes achieve success despite their limited resources. There is still a shortage of investment available for girls and women who wish to play sports, from youth level to professional. Santos, Formiga and Coachman, along with many other Black women, have made the Olympics what it is today. Their achievements are not forgotten or downplayed, but their names will always be remembered. These are just a few of the Black women who broke down barriers in sports and those who followed their lead.FiveThirtyEightThe firstMany Black women athletes broke barriers simply by being the first. Alice Annum and Jean Robotham, Charlotte Carlota Gooden, Graviola Ewing, and Charlotte Carlota Gooden were the first Black women to represent their country at the Olympics in Ghana, Costa Rica and Panama.Ewing, who passed away in March 2020, was the original to make her debut at the 1952 Olympic Games, Finland. Gooden was qualified to compete in those Games but Panama refused payment to send its all-Black track team to Helsinki. Robotham participated in the pentathlon, long jump, and 400 meters at the 1968 Mexico City Games. Annum competed in the Olympic long jumper and sprinter at the 1964 Olympics.Chioma Adunwa, a Black African woman who won the long jump and any other field event in 1996, was Chioma's first win in that event. This happened 28 years after Annum had last competed in it. Ajunwa, a Nigerian police officer, was also the first athlete to win an individual Olympic medal. Ajunwa was the underdog, beating Jackie Joyner-Kersee from the United States and Fiona May of Italy. Ajunwa was the one who made her jump first. She was nervous as she watched everyone get warm around her.I was afraid. As I was sitting there, something popped into my brain and asked me to get up. Ajunwa explained to Arise News that their legs were not made of iron.Related: What Countries Do Better Than Expected at the Tokyo Olympics? Continue reading. Continue reading.Mara Isabel Urrutia, also known as La Negra De Oro, was Colombia's first ever gold medalist. She won the heavyweight category at the Olympics' first womens weightlifting competition. Urrutia, who is a weightlifting world champion, paid for her training by working as a telephone operator. She competed in shot throw and discus at Seoul's 1988 Games before her 2000 Summer Games win.Enith Brigitha, a Black woman competing for the Netherlands in Olympic swimming, won bronze in the 100 and 200 meter freestyles at the 1976 Montreal Games. Her East German competitors who won silver and gold ahead of her were later disqualified. However, Brigitha considers herself to be a gold medalist.Ethiopia's Derartu Tulu, who won three Olympic medals for the 10,000-meter run, is the first woman from Ethiopia and the first Black African woman ever to win an Olympic gold. Ethiopia's Fatuma Roba, a policewoman from Ethiopia, became the first African woman in 1996 to win a gold in the women's Olympic marathon race.These firsts were the foundation for all the other athletes who followed them. Some of these you will see in Tokyo in the coming weeks. They made it possible for the next generation of leaders through their achievements and breakthroughs.The most decoratedTo become an Olympian requires a unique combination of talent, hardwork, investment, opportunity and sacrifice. It is amazing to be able sustain this over time through an event cycle of at least four years.Since 1964, the Olympics have awarded four gold medals to the Cuban women's volleyball team. This team is made up of all Black players and is considered the greatest volleyball team ever.Las Morenas del Caribe, the Caribbean Girls participated in the 1972 Olympics. They finished sixth. They finished fifth in the 1980 and 1976 Games. However, they did not attend the Los Angeles and Seoul Olympics nor any Cuban athletes. In 1992, they returned to the top of podium and remained there.Regla Torres, who was a member the 1992, 1996, and 2000 gold-medal team, stated that our motivation to win was our country. Cubans love sport, and our victories brought joy for our people. It might seem strange to some people, but it is very easy for those who have lived in Cuba during those difficult years. People needed joy. This was our motivation at that time.They were the team to beat and won the Olympics for a decade. In 2004, they finished with bronze. They were fourth at the Olympics in 2008, their last appearance.Lusia Harris, from Team USAs, became the first female to score in an Olympic basketball match during the first Olympic women's basketball tournament. The United States has won eight of the ten Games it has participated in, and hopes to win a seventh consecutive gold medal this year. Teresa Edwards, a U.S. basketball player, was the first to participate in five Olympic games and earn five medals.Laura Flessel-Colovic, a fencer, has won five Olympic golds. This is the most medals of any French athlete. Driulis Gonzlez is a Cuban Judoka who has won four Olympic medals. She is also one of the four female judokas that competes at five Olympics.Merlene Ottey, Allyson Felix and Allyson Felix have each won nine Olympic medals. Felix hopes to win more this year. Ottey participated in seven Olympics. She competed first for Jamaica, then Slovenia. Ottey's 200-meter bronze medal in Moscow inspired her Jamaican counterparts to become gold.Veronica Campbell Brown, a Jamaican woman, became the first to win gold in a sprint race in 2004. Campbell Brown has won eight Olympic medals over her career, and she is the first woman in history to win three track medals at three Games. Campbell Brown's first gold was the beginning of a golden era for Jamaican women's sprinting. Although Florence Griffith-Joyners records for the 100- and 200m have not been broken, Shelly Anne Fraser-Pryce is getting closer (as well as Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare). Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson, both from Jamaica, have won the 100m Gold since the 2008 Beijing Games.Fraser-Pryce thanked Campbell Brown for her retirement and stated that she would continue the legacy of Jamaican music and culture.Enith Brigitha, who won bronze medals in her first competition, died in 2021. Simone Manuel from the United States became the first Black woman ever to win an individual gold swimming medal. Alice Dearing, a Black woman swimmer, became Team Great Britain's first representative at the Olympics in 2021. Brazil's Etiene Medeiros will also be competing for a swimming gold.Black sportswomen have carved their own place in history. This summer, we will be able to see more Black women athletes.FiveThirtyEightFiveThirtyEight
