50 years on, legacy of Olympic protest lingers

LOS ANGELES - Fifty years after raising clenched fists in protest during the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, the shock waves unleashed by John Carlos and Tommie Smith's salute of defiance are still rippling around the sporting world.

The image of the African-American sprinters standing on the medal podium on Oct 16, 1968, heads bowed while each raised a solitary, leather-gloved fist into the night sky would become one of the most iconic images of the 20th century.

The protest redefined the concept of athlete activism as the stuffy, antiquated world of the Olympic movement under then-president Avery Brundage collided with the political and cultural maelstrom raging across the globe.