Wrestlers Protest: On the path of Indian wrestler Muhammad Ali, American boxer threw his Olympic gold medal in the river in protest against racism
Indian wrestlers follow Muhammad Ali’s Path: When Muhammad Ali reached his hometown after winning the gold medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics, he was treated with disrespect.
Two days after the Delhi Police detained and filed an FIR against the country’s top wrestlers in connection with protests against BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, medalists said they would return their Olympic and World Championship medals by Tuesday 30 March. On May 2023, will immerse him in the river Ganga in Haridwar.
The wrestlers went to the river bank, but on the persuasion of farmer leader Naresh Tikait, they did not immerse their medals. He handed over his medals to Naresh Tikait saying that if no action is taken within five days, he will come again. Indian wrestlers are largely following the footsteps of American boxer Muhammad Ali ‘The Greatest’.
Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Clay, a black American, in Louisville, Kentucky. Racism was rampant in Louisville at the time. Cassius Clay entered the world of boxing at the age of 12. Cassius Clay won gold in the 1960 Rome Olympics within 6 years.
Muhammad Ali won the gold medal in the Olympics at the age of 18.
Muhammad Ali, 18, was overjoyed at winning the gold. “I didn’t give up that medal for 48 hours,” he told reporters. I even wore it to bed. I didn’t sleep very well because I had to sleep on my back, but I didn’t care. I was the Olympic champion.
However, who knew things would soon change. Muhammad Ali could not keep that medal with him for long. Legend has it that when the star boxer returned home to Louisville, the city could not see him beyond the color of his body.
A restaurant refused to serve Muhammad Ali. Only white people used to get service in that restaurant. After that Muhammad Ali got into a fight with a motorcycle gang. Ali said that he threw his medal into the Ohio River after being upset by racism.
In his autobiography ‘The Greatest’, Muhammad Ali wrote that he threw his gold medal into the Ohio River after a fight with a motorcycle gang, reports the Associated Press. The quarrel began when the restaurant refused to serve him and a friend of his.
Muhammad Ali had to face racism
Muhammad Ali undoubtedly faced racism. However, a report also says that he might have lost the medal or misplaced it somewhere. According to a report in The New York Times, some journalists went to Cassius Clay’s home in Louisville after the Rome Olympics.
There Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali was publicly called out as the ‘Olympic nigger’. Many restaurants in the city refused to serve. After such humiliation a story emerged that Cassius Clay threw his gold medal into the Ohio River.
However, according to author Thomas Hauser, Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) lost the medal. Thomas Hauser is the author of ‘Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times’. Cassius Clay converted to Islam in 1964 and renamed himself Muhammad Ali.
