U-M Legend Hubbard to be Inducted into Inaugural Collegiate Athlete Hall of Fame Class
4/14/2022 2:00:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
NEW ORLEANS, La. -- The late trailblazing University of Michigan men's track and field legend DeHart Hubbard is set to be inducted into the inaugural class of the Collegiate Athlete Hall of Fame, the U.S Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced Thursday (April 14).
Hubbard, the first Black athlete in any sport to win an NCAA title and the first Black man to win an Olympics gold in an individual event, will be posthumously inducted as part of the 30-person class in a ceremony on June 6 at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts in Eugene, Ore.
The USTFCCCA founded the Collegiate Athlete Hall of Fame for track and field and cross country to recognize the most excellent student-athletes throughout history on the basis of their accomplishments during collegiate competition. Men who competed prior to 2000 and women who competed prior to 2010 were eligible for induction.
Hubbard, who competed for the Wolverines between 1923 and 1925, is joined in the inaugural class by Jenny Barringer, Ralph Boston, Ron Delany, Harrison Dillard, Suzy Favor, Charlie Greene, Carlette Guidry, Vicki Huber, Jackie Johnson, Jackie Joyner, Sally Kipyego, Carl Lewis, Gerry Lindgren, Randy Matson, Ralph Metcalfe, Rodney Milburn, Bobby Morrow, Suleiman Nyambui, Billy Olson, Merlene Ottey, Jesse Owens, Mel Patton, Steve Prefontaine, Meg Ritchie, Henry Rono, Wilma Rudolph, Jim Ryun, Erick Walder and John Woodruff.
Between them, the class accounts for 205 national collegiate individual titles, 99 world records and 19 Olympic gold medals.
Hubbard, who died on June 23, 1976, accounted for three of those national titles, one of those world records, and one of those Olympic golds.
In 1923 he became the first Black man in any sport to win an NCAA title when he claimed the long jump with a meet-record 25-feet, two-inch leap.
He followed up in 1924 by becoming the first Black man to win an Olympic gold when he claimed the long jump title in Paris with a best jump of 7.445 meters (24 feet, five inches). He also represented the United States in the triple jump, but did not record a mark.
Hubbard closed his collegiate career in 1925 as the first man in NCAA history to win both the long jump and 100-yard national titles at the same meet. He broke the world record in the long jump at 25-10? (7.89m), and broke the meet record at 100 yards in 9.8.
His long jump performance still stands as the farthest wind-legal or IAAF-ratified jump in school history.
