William DeHart Hubbard (November 25, 1903 – June 23, 1976) was a track and field athlete who was the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event: the running long jump at the 1924 Paris Summer games.

[1] Businessman Lon Barringer, a University of Michigan alumnus, learned of both achievements from newspaper articles.

The Cincinnati Enquirer was running a subscription contest; the ten high school students who signed up the most subscribers for the newspaper would each receive a $3000 scholarship.

[6] Barringer wrote to Michigan alumni across the country; Branch Rickey, who later broke the Major League Baseball color barrier by signing Jackie Robinson, was among the many who subscribed.

His 1925 outdoor long jump of 25 feet 10+1⁄2 inches (7.89 m) stood as the Michigan Wolverines team record until 1980, and is still second.

[9] In 1925, Hubbard broke the long jump world record with a leap of 25 feet 10+7⁄8 inches (7.90 m) at the NCAA championships.

[3] Camille Paddeu, a curator at the Musee municipal d'Art et d'Histoire in Colombes, the Paris suburb where the main stadium was located, confirmed Hubbard was not permitted to compete in some other events.

[11]) The United States Olympic team sailed from Hoboken, New Jersey, for France aboard the liner SS America.

In 1942 he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and became a race relations adviser for the Federal Housing Authority (FHA).