Tommie C. Smith (born June 6, 1944) is an American former track and field athlete and wide receiver in the American Football League. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Smith, aged 24, won the 200-meter sprint finals and gold medal in 19.83 seconds – the first time the 20-second barrier was broken officially. His Black Power salute with John Carlos atop the medal podium caused controversy, as it was seen as politicizing the Olympic Games. It remains a symbolic moment in the history of the Black Power movement.

Tommie Smith was born on June 6, 1944, in Clarksville, Texas, the seventh of twelve children born to Richard and Dora Smith. He suffered from pneumonia as a child, but still grew to be an athletic youth. While attending Lemoore High School in Lemoore, California, Smith showed great potential, setting most of the school's track records, many of which remain. He won the 440-yard dash in the 1963 CIF California State Meet. He was voted Lemoore's "Most Valuable Athlete" in basketball, football, and track and field, and was also voted vice president of his senior class. His achievements earned him a scholarship to San José State University.

On May 7, 1966, while he was at San Jose State, Smith set a world best of 19.5 seconds in the 200 m straight, which he ran on a cinder track. That record for 200 m was finally beaten by Tyson Gay on May 16, 2010, just over 44 years later, though Smith still holds the record for the slightly longer 220-yard event. Since the IAAF has abandoned ratifying records for the event, Smith still retains the official record for the straightaway 200 m/220 yards in perpetuity.

A few weeks later, on June 11, 1966, Smith set the record for 200 meters and 220 yards around a turn at 20.0, the first man to do that in 20 seconds. Six days later he won the NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship. Smith also won the national collegiate 220-yard (201.17 m) title in 1967 before adding the AAU furlong (201.17m) crown as well. He traveled to Japan for the 1967 Summer Universiade and won the 200 m gold medal. He repeated as U.S. 200 m champion in 1968 and made the Olympic team.

Leading up to the Olympics, at the U.S. Olympic Trials at Echo Summit, California, San Jose State teammate John Carlos beat Smith and his world record, running 19.92A. John Carlos' record was disallowed because of the brush spike shoes he was wearing, as was a similar record by Vince Matthews in the 400 meters.

As a member of the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) Smith originally advocated a boycott of the 1968 Olympics, the restoration of Muhammad Ali's world heavyweight boxing title, Avery Brundage to step down as president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the hiring of more African-American assistant coaches. As the boycott failed to achieve support after the IOC withdrew invitations for South Africa and Rhodesia, he decided, together with Carlos, to not only wear their gloves but also go barefoot to protest poverty, wear beads to protest lynchings, and wear buttons that said OPHR.

At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico, Smith nursed an injured groin into the 200 m final. In the race, teammate Carlos powered out to the lead through the turn, while Smith got a slow start. Coming off the turn, Smith charged past Carlos and sped to victory. Knowing he had passed his training partner and closest opponent, his victory was so clear, he raised his arms to celebrate 10 m before the finish line. Still, he improved upon his own world record that would last for 11 years until Pietro Mennea would surpass it on the same track. Smith's time of 19.83 was among the first automatically timed world records for the event as recorded by the IAAF.

Carlos and Smith made headlines around the world by raising their black-gloved fists at the medal award ceremony. Both athletes wore black socks and no shoes on the podium to represent African-American poverty. In support, Peter Norman, the silver medalist who was a white athlete from Australia, participated in the protest by wearing an OPHR badge.