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PARIS — The audience in Paris stood to applaud Tommie Smith, more than 50 years after he took a stand for civil rights. The 80-year-old Olympic champion was a guest speaker at the Musée de l'Immigration (Museum of Immigration) at the Palais de la Porte Dorée on Tuesday, just over six weeks from the start of the Paris Olympics. Smith's raised right fist from the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City still speaks for itself, even in an era in which athletes have much more freedom to voice their opinions. Smith had just won the gold medal for the United States in the 200 meters. Standing on the podium, head bowed, he thrust a gloved right fist up in the air.
