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The greatest Olympic athlete from every U.S. state

By Adam Strangis

16th October 1964: Alfred A Oerter, American winner of the Gold Medal in the Tokyo Olympics 1964 for Discus throwing. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
16th October 1964: Alfred A Oerter, American winner of the Gold Medal in the Tokyo Olympics 1964 for Discus throwing. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images) /
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Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali stands over Sonny Liston and taunts him to get up during their title fight. Ali knocked Liston out in one minute in the first round during their bout at the Central Maine Youth Center in Lewiston, Maine.
Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali stands over Sonny Liston and taunts him to get up during their title fight. Ali knocked Liston out in one minute in the first round during their bout at the Central Maine Youth Center in Lewiston, Maine. /

Kentucky: Muhammad Ali

Sport: Boxing

Olympics: 1960 Rome

There is no “best” or “greatest” list of Olympians that would be complete without an appearance from the original greatest of all time, Muhammad Ali. At the time that he won the gold medal as a light heavyweight, Ali was still known by his birth name of Cassius Clay. It wasn’t until later in his career that he converted to the Islam faith and changed his name. Clay was just an 18 year old when he traveled to Rome and dominated his competition. He beat the three-time European champion Zbigniew Pietrzykowski in the final to take home the gold. It would be the only gold medal that Clay/Ali would ever win, but his career in boxing and otherwise was just getting started.

Clay went professional and in 1964 and won the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston and was undefeated until he was stripped of his belt in 1967. He was stripped of his belt because he refused to be drafted to the Vietnam War and that was one of the first times Ali became a figure outside the boxing world. Ali was eventually arrested on draft evasion charges and his case went to the Supreme Court. Even though Ali won, he lost over four years of his career during what should have been his peak.

He was extraordinarily outspoken about social and racial issues. Ali was one of the first athletes to use his position in society to speak his beliefs, even if they were unpopular. Many current athletes list Ali as a role model to being socially conscious and trying to make the world a better place. Ali wasn’t always the most popular person due to his trash talking outside the ring and his outspokenness. History has been kind to Ali as he remains a symbol of the Civil Rights movement. He was also part of two of the most famous boxing matches of all time: The “Rumble in the Jungle” versus Goerge Foreman and the “Thrilla in Manilla” versus Joe Frazier. After his boxing career ended, Ali devoted his life to charitable work and also had one of the greatest and most emotional moments when he lit the Olympic Cauldron during the Opening Ceremonies of the 1996 Atlanta games. Ali is one of the greatest athletes to ever live and his accomplishments could be written about for days. He passed in 2016 at the age of 74.

Honorable Mention: Mary T. Meagher, swimming in Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988

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