Wyomia Tyus made Olympic history and paved the way for athlete activists, but never became a household name
![Wyomia Tyus: the original athlete activist hiding in plain sight](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/14a9628c62a069619d54b011e3f8eae00cd7333a/0_85_3993_2397/master/3993.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=11448463eb457f57c1b5ee1f032fe00e)
Only six people in the world have won the 100m dash in back-to-back Olympic Games. The first was Wyomia Tyus in 1964 and 1968. Next was Carl Lewis, then Gail Devers, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Usain Bolt (who won three times in a row), and Elaine Thompson-Herah. To many people, the name Wyomia Tyus is less familiar than the others.
Tyus was not only the first Olympian to win back-to-back gold in its prestige event – she also made history in other ways. At the 1968 Olympics in
Mexico City, when Tyus crossed the line first in the 100 meters, she set a world record of 11.08 seconds. And when she ran, she was wearing dark shorts instead of the team-issued white shorts, a gesture to show her support for
Human Rights.