DeHart Hubbard

Who was DeHart Hubbard?

DeHart Hubbard was a track and field athlete who was the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event; the running long jump at the 1924 Paris Summer games.

He subsequently set a long jump world record of 25 feet 10 ³⁄₄ inches at Chicago in June 1925 and equaled the world record of 9.6 seconds for the 100-yard dash at Cincinnati, Ohio a year later.

He attended and graduated from Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, graduated with honors from the University of Michigan in 1927 where he was a three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association champion and seven-time Big Ten Conference champion in track and field. His 1925 outdoor long jump of 25 feet 10 ¹⁄₂ inches stood as the Michigan Wolverines team record until 1980, and it still stands second. His 1925 jump of 25 feet 3 ¹⁄₂ inches stood as a Big Ten Championships record until Jesse Owens broke it on with what is now the current record of 26 feet 8 ¹⁄₄ inches in 1935.