Hubbard, DeHart (1903–1976), was the first African American athlete to win an individual gold medal in the Olympic Games . Hubbard won the long jump at the 1924 Olympics in Paris. African American athlete John Taylor won a gold medal at the 1908 Olympics in London as a member of the victorious American 1,600–meter relay team. (One meter equals about 3 1/4 feet.) The three other runners on the relay team also won gold medals.
William DeHart Hubbard was born in Cincinnati on Nov. 25, 1903. He entered the University of Michigan in 1921 after winning a scholarship by selling subscriptions to The Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper. Hubbard immediately became a track star at Michigan. As a sophomore, he set a Big Ten Conference record in the long jump and the 50-yard dash. (One yard is 0.9 meter.) He won the conference titles in the 100-yard dash and long jump his junior year. Those performances gained him an opportunity to make the United States Olympic team.
In 1925, Hubbard returned to the University of Michigan from the Olympics. That year he tied the world record of 9.6 seconds in the 100-yard dash and set a world record in the long jump of 25 feet 10 3/4 inches (7.89 meters). Hubbard competed in the 100-yard dash in the 1928 Olympics, but injuries slowed him down and he finished 11th.
Hubbard graduated from Michigan in 1927 and took a job as a department supervisor for the Public Recreation Commission in Cincinnati. He held that job until 1941. Hubbard moved to Cleveland in 1942, working for the Federal Public Housing Authority until he retired in 1969. He died on June 23, 1976. Hubbard was elected to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1979.
