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John Carlos (left) and Tommie Smith hanging out at what is now known as Bud Winter Field, San Jose State College South Campus in 1969

Who were they?

By: Adam Murphy

Posted: 10/9/08

Pride for Pride, Stride for Stride

A simple gesture nearly 40 years ago inextricably tied gold medalist Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos together. For the rest of their lives, they would be known neither for their medals nor their numerous world records, but for their protest at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

There was no great plan to make a statement to the world, said former SJSU professor Harry Edwards and organizer of the Project for Human Rights. Edwards was instrumental in influencing Smith and Carlos to take some kind of action during the Olympic trials, according to SJSU alumnus and Project for Human Rights co-founder Ken Noel.

Smith and Carlos were not political activists, but athletes.

"Carlos and Smith are joined at the hip in history, they will always be together, but they couldn't be more different," Edwards said. "Tommie Smith's world as a child was one of hard work, the seventh child of 12 from a farming family that moved to Northern California when he was 6."

Smith said his father prided himself on hard work. He said he carries that same kind of pride around with him at all times.

It helps explain the thinking of someone who would risk everything for what he felt was right.

"Dad and Mom where my backbone," Tommie Smith said of his parents. "Their intrinsic attitudes of work ethic and non-secular beliefs kept me to do the right thing."

Like Smith, John Carlos' main influence was his family.

"My father was a serious-minded individual in regards to family protection, support, care," Carlos said. "He would never solve your problems. He would give you some tools to solve the problem, but you had to be the man to step up to the plate to resolve those issues."

Tommie Smith wore sunglasses in all of his events. He wore them not to stand out, but to hide.

"I try to convince myself that if I can't see out too well, then nobody can see me very clearly, either," said Smith in an interview with Frank Deford of Sports Illustrated in 1967.

The Olympians could not be more different, even on the stand. Smith was shy and affable compared to a boisterous and confident Carlos. Smith's posture on the Olympic pedestal was rigid and forceful, while Carlos was at ease, his body loose and relaxed.

"Carlos is a city guy, brash, boisterous and loud, outwardly aggressive. He wore his confidence out in the open. He had supreme confidence," Noel said.

Carlos and Smith may differ in their personalities, but they share traits common to any Olympic athlete.

"(They had) tremendous amounts of pride and courage. Without that, how can you be as political as we were and perform as well as they did under those circumstances? They had self confidence and a willingness to sacrifice," Noel said.

Neither ever lacked confidence on the track grid. Head coach Bud Winter made sure of that.

Winter trained fighter pilots during World War II and used the relaxation technique learned in the Navy and applied them to his runners.

"I came to San Jose State to be coached by the best and achieve worldwide achievement. (Winter) was very instrumental in me graduating from college, since I was the very first one in my family to do so," said Bob Poynter, a former SJSU student athlete under Bud Winter.

Winter's car he drove to practice was held together by string, and he conducted practice in a camouflage suit, according to Urla Hill, an SJSU graduate and curator of the Speed City exhibit in San Jose City Hall.

"Winter was a friend, a mentor and a great coach. He contributed to who I was on the track," Carlos said.

Bud Winter was the track coach while Ernie Bullard instructed all of the field events.

"(Winter) was one of the really outstanding coaches ever. The SJSU track and field program never had a big budget in any sport. He built quite a bit on very little. (He) was the mantel on why (the athletes) were there. Speed City was one thing, but on that team there were some outstanding athletes," Bullard said.

Winter produced more than 102 All-Americans during his tenure at SJSU, Poynter said. Winter also saw the team through the political turmoil of the late 1960s.

"It was like going down rapids in a canoe. The whole idea is to get to the bottom with everyone still on the canoe," Bullard said. "None of it was easy. It was a complicated year, but we got through it."