Muhammad Ali won an Olympic gold medal in 1960. At the Rome Olympics, he won the light-heavyweight boxing title for the United States while still known as Cassius Clay.
Clay was 18 years old and defeated Poland's Zbigniew Pietrzykowski in the final by unanimous decision. The victory was an early sign of the speed, confidence, and unusual movement that would define his professional career. He returned home as an Olympic champion before turning professional later that year.
A common mix-up is confusing this medal with Ali's later heavyweight championships. The Olympic medal came in the light-heavyweight division, not heavyweight, and it was won before he defeated Sonny Liston for the professional world title in 1964. Ali later said he threw the medal into the Ohio River after facing racism, although the details of that story have been debated. A replacement medal was presented to him at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.