The Complete History of Black Winter Olympic Medalists

Image via Complex Original

Sport: Figure skating
Country: USA
Medal(s): Bronze (1988)

At the age of five, Thomas stepped into the ice skating rink for the first time and it wasn't long before she realized that this sport was her calling. Four years later, Debi was already winning competitions, but those victories came with a harsh realization that there were judges who gave higher marks to other skaters because of the color of her skin. However, that didn't deter her. 

While pursuing a degree in engineering at Stanford University, Thomas continued her figure skating career, which resulted in her becoming the first African American to win a non-novice title after taking the senior women's title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 1986. Later that year, Debi secured the top spot at the World Championships and she seemed destined for great things when the 1988 Winter Olympics rolled around in Calgary. 

In the end, Thomas won the bronze medal in the Women's Figure Skating singles and became the first African American to win a medal at any sport in the Winter Olympics. Debi may be disappointed with her finish at the Games, but her placement in the history books more than makes up for it, if we say so ourselves.  

Sport: Bobsled
Country: USA
Medal(s): Gold (2002)

At nine-years-old, Vonetta Flowers was chosen out of group of other students at Jonesboro Elementary School by coach DeWitt Thomas for her exceptional speed. Since that moment, Flowers trained for a decade to hopefully make it to the Summer Olympics, but after five surgeries in eight years, Vonetta wasn't capable of even cracking the U.S. team, falling short in the Trials in 2000. 

A couple of days after her discouraging 2000 Trials performance, her husband Johnny noticed a flyer which urged track and field athletes to try out for the U.S. Bobsled team. While Vonetta wasn't interested, her husband was and tried out for the team. Johnny's dream fell short when he injured his hamstring. In an effort to live out his bobsled hopes, Flowers tried out for the Women's team and immediately made the squad. 

Even though Flowers didn't start bobsledding until she was 26, she definitely made up for lost time after managing to make history as the first black Olympian to win the gold medal. 

Sport: Hockey
Country: Canada
Medal(s): Gold (2002, 2010)

As a kid, Jarome Iginla developed an interest for both baseball as well as hockey. However, his admiration towards a black athletes, like Oilers goalie Grant Fuhr, resulted in Iginla not only playing hockey, but competing at the same position as Fuhr. In his teens, Iginla played for the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League as a winger for three seasons until the NHL and more specifically, the Dallas Stars, came calling with the 11th overall pick in the 1995 Entry Draft. Less than a year after getting drafted, though, Iginla was dealt to the Calgary Flames. But this is where Iginla's career really took flight. 

Prior to the 2002 Winter Olympics, Iginla was given an invitation to Team Canada's summer camp. Initially, Iginla believed that, based on how late the invite came in, one of his Flames teammates were playing a cruel joke on him. But this was the real deal. In 2002, Iginla repaid Canada for their offer by scoring two goals in the gold medal game against the United States. With the victory, Iginla became the first black male to earn a gold medal in the Winter Olympics. 

Sport: Bobsled
Country: USA
Medal(s): Silver (2002)

While the three black athletes united over the sport of bobsledding, Randy Jones, Garrett Hines, and Bill Schuffenhauer came from entirely different backgrounds. Randy Jones was a mechanical engineer who also has a degree in biological science. Garrett Hines fell short in 1998 before changing to the team that would help him win a silver medal four years later. And then there was Bill Schuffenhauer. The son of drug addict parents, Schuffenhauer lived a rough life, but if it wasn't for his grandmother who convinced him to give track and field a shot in high school, who knows how things would've paned out. 

In 2000, Schuffenhauer suffered a bad ankle injury, putting an end to his track and field career, but he did come across the U.S. Olympic team practicing bobsledding. The team immediately noticed his 6'0", 200-pound body frame and felt as though he would make a great pusher. Schuffenhauer accepted their offer and two years later, after one of the U.S. members tested positive for a banned substance, Bill was on the team as a regular, helping them win the silver in Salt Lake City. 

Sport: Speed skating
Country: USA
Medal(s): Silver in 1500m (2006, 2010); Gold in 1000m (2006, 2010)

At only two years old, Shani Davis already learned how to roller skate. One year later, Davis was already exhibiting the type of speed on the ice that would eventually make him an Olympic champion. When he was six, Shani was enrolled in the Robert Crown Center in Evanstown, Ill., which specializes in helping youngsters improve their speed skating ability. 

At 16, Shani was now determined to make his Olympic dreams a reality. So, he moved to Marquette, Mich. where he worked towards improving his abilities while also earned a diploma from Marquette Senior High School. 

While Davis is going for unprecedented a gold medal in the same individual event (1000m) for a third consecutive, we would be remiss to not point out the controversy surrounding the U.S. Trials which prevented Davis from competing in the 2002 Winter Olympics. With Apollo Ohno and Rusty Smith already guaranteed spots on the final team, Shani needed to come in first which meant defeating Smith and Ohno as well. Shani did just that, but fellow U.S. speed skater Tommy O'Hare filed a complaint, claiming that Ohno and Smith held back in order to have their Davis on the team. The whole situation caused too many problems and Davis left shortly after the Opening Ceremony. 

While he walked away with no medals in 2002, Davis more than made up for it by winning gold and silver medals in the 1000m and 1500m comeptitions in 2006 and 2010.

Sport: Speed skating
Country: Canada
Medal(s): Silver in 3000m relay (2006, 2010)

Between the ages of four to six, Kalyna Roberge dabbled in figure skating and gymnastics, but those two didn't pique her interest quite like the sport her three brothers, Pascal, Frederic, and Mathieu, were playing: speed skating. At 19, her then-coach Guy Thibault suggested that Roberge try getting into the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, to which Roberge responded by almost laughing in her coach's face.

Kalyna actually made it on the 2006 team and played a pivotal role by making a successful pass in the 3000m relay with only three laps to go. Her daring move helped secure the silver medal for Canada.

Sport: Bobsled
Country: Canada
Medal(s): Silver (2006) & Bronze (2010)

Born and raised in the town of Clarendon, Jamaica, Lascelles Brown represented his country in the 2002 Winter Olympics as a member of the bobsled team. However, his performance, along with Winston Watt, was met with marginal success and the duo weren't even able to get a medal. Four years later, with only two weeks to go before the start of the Winter Games in Torino, Brown earned his Canadian citizenship, allowing him to compete with his latest long-standing bobsled partner, Pierre Lueders.

The decision to acquire Canadian citizenship turned out to be a smart move on his end because in 2006, Brown and Lueders came away with the silver medal. It seemed like the sky was the limit for these two athletes, but then, prior to the 2010 Games, Brown and Lueders had a falling out and haven't competed together since. Brown still won another medal, bronze this time, with another partner in the two-man bobsled. 

Sport: Figure skating
Country: Germany
Medal(s): Bronze (2010)

In 1983, it all started when the mother of a four-year-old Robin Szolkowy noticing an advertisement for a new skating rink. While the initial goal was to make it as a singles figure skater, Szolkowy moved onto pairs at the age of 16. After bouncing around from partner to partner over the course of five years, Szolkowy didn't find another partner for a year and a half before teaming up with Aliona Savchenko in 2003. 

As the duo looks to improve on their bronze medal finish from 2010, Savchenko and Szolkowy have proven that they are a force to be reckoned with, having won gold in the World Championships four times since 2008. 

Sport: Bobsled
Country: Germany
Medal(s): Silver (2010)

When NFL Europe folded in 2007, Richard Adjei needed something to do. It wasn't long before the former linebacker for the Berlin Thunder became a member of the German bobsled team. And with only three years experience, Adjei excelled in his role as breakman, helping the two-man team with Thomas Florschütz come away with the silver medal. 

Sport: Bobsled
Country: Canada
Medal(s): Silver (2010)

Prior to coming away victorious at the 2010 Winter Olympics in bobsledding, Shelley-Ann Brown was a young'n recruited by the University of Nebraska on a track and field scholarship as a hurdler. Brown eventually took the offer, earning a Bachelor of Science in Biological Studies and English while also garnering All-American honors for her work on the track. 

However, in 2007, the Canadian bobsleigh team recruited Brown and in only three short years, Shelley-Brown went from a track star to standing on the podium, alongside her teammate Helen Upperton, with a silver medal wrapped around her neck. Not a bad deal.