A personal blog by a Black, Gay, Caribbean, Liberal, Progressive, Moderate, Fit, Geeky, Married, College-Educated, NPR-Listening, Tennis-Playing, Feminist, Atheist, Math Professor in Los Angeles, California
Monday, August 11, 2008
African American Cullen Jones Wins Swimming Gold
Cullen Jones was part of the U.S. 4x100m freestyle relay swimming team that won a Gold medal yesterday in Beijing coming from behind to clip the French team in world record time. Also on the team were Michael Phelps, Jason Lezak and Garrett Weber-Gale. Jones, 24, became the second African American to ever win an Olympic gold medal in swimming, and Phelps won his second (of a possible 8) in the Beijing Olympics. At the Athens Olympics, the U.S. team had placed third and Phelps had won 6 Gold and 2 Bronze. He is attempting to break Mark Spitz record of seven golds in a single Olympics.
Jones has a multiple-year deal with Nike and devotes his time trying to educate minorities about the importance of learning to swim. He himself nearly drowned at age 5 and nearly 6 out of 10 Blacks do not know how to swim. African American children ages 5-14 are nearly three times as likely to drown as their white counterparts.
(hat/tip to Rod 2.0 and Craig Hickman.)
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1 comment:
That was one amazing race, and I was thrilled that Cullum was the champ!
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