Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Oscar De La Hoya, Mexican-American boxer extraordinaire

Oscar De La Hoya, born February 4, 1973 in East Los Angeles, California, is the first boxer in history to win world titles in six different weight divisions: Super featherweight, Lightweight, Light Welterweight, Welterweight, Light Middleweight, and Middleweight.

Over his career of 45 professional boxing fights, he won 39 times, with only 6 losses. 

De La Hoya took home the gold medal in the 1992 Olympic games, and he was named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year in 1995.  In 2008, he was inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame.

Celebrating Black History Month: Alice Coachman, first African-American to win an Olympic Gold medal

Alice Coachman, born November 8, 1923 in Albany, Georgia, is the first African-American to win an Olympic gold medal.  She represented the US at the 1948 Olympics in London, in the women's high jump, defeating England's Dorothy Tyler.  King George VI presented her medal. 

She was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1979.  At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, she was honored as one of the 100 Greatest Olympians.  She has also been inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame (1975) and the US Olympic Hall of Fame (2004).

She passed away from cardiac arrest in Albany, Georgia in July 2014.

Celebrating Black History Month: Jesse Owens, African-American athlete extraordinaire

Jesse Owens, born September 12, 1913 in Oakville, Alabama, is recognized as one of the greatest track and field athletes in history.  He set three world records in the span of forty five minutes during the Big Ten track meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1935.

He won four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany: 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump and 4 x 100 meter relay.  His achievements made him the most successful athlete at the games. 

The street outside the Olympic Stadium in Berlin has been named Jesse Owens Boulevard and the dormitory where he stayed during the games has been restored into a living museum with pictures of his accomplishments.

He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Gerald Ford, the Living Legend Award by President Jimmy Carter, has an asteroid named after him (6758 Jesseowens), and inducted into the inaugural class of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.

Owens died in March 1980 from an agressive, drug-resistant type of lung cancer.