Muhammad Ali at the Summer Olympic games. is one of the greatest stories. The crowd erupted as the Olympic torch was handed to Muhammad Ali. The Olympic gold medal boxer Muhammad Ali lifted the torch and trembled before a crowd screaming "Ali'. He then sent the fireplace soaring high above the stadium to ignite the ceremonial Olympic cauldron. This moment became one of the finest ever to many sports fans, especially considering the tragedy Ali had been through. Even through that, he performed the venture as a true champion. Muhammad Ali was an important and influential figure in sports history that had a positive impact on the world through his appearance in the Olympics, his religious beliefs, and his performance in the boxing arena. To begin, …show more content…
After the 1960 Olympics, Ali said that his name would now be Muhammad Ali and that he had joined the Nation of Islam, an organization that had a great impact on his professional and personal life ("Muhammad Ali." Contemporary Black Biography). Ali had become a political image of black society, perhaps the person that encouraged blacks the greatest after Martin Luther King and Malcolm X ("Muhammad Ali." Contemporary Black Biography). Ali was drafted to the military during the Vietnam war, but he refused to participate, on grounds of his spiritual ideals (Smith 78). Ali was immediately stripped of his heavyweight name, and received a 5-12 month prison sentence, which he appealed ("Muhammad Ali." Encyclopedia of World Biography). Whether Ali’s actions were proper or incorrect is debated, but he took his punishment for something he believed in ("Muhammad Ali." Encyclopedia of World Biography). When Muhammad Ali needed aid from his government, they did not fight for him, so when the U.S. demanded his aid, he refused. His actions made him even more popular in black society, and whilst the preferred courtroom set the level for his boxing go back, once they overturned his conviction, Ali changed into greeted as a