George Poage

George Coleman Poage (November 6, 1880–April 11, 1962) was the first African American athlete to win a medal in the Olympic Games, winning two bronze medals at the 1904 games in St. Louis. Born in Hannibal, Missouri, his family moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin when he was still a youngster. At La Crosse High School Poage excelled as both a student and an athlete. He was easily the school’s best athlete. As the second-best student in his class and its first African-American graduate, at commencement in 1899 he addressed the assembly as the salutatorian of his class. The following fall he became a freshman at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. After competing with the freshman track squad in 1900, he joined the varsity track and field team...