Anthony Ervin

Anthony Lee Ervin (born May 26, 1981) is an American competitive swimmer who has won four Olympic medals and two World Championship golds. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal in the men's 50-meter freestyle, and earned a silver medal as a member of the second-place United States relay team in the 4×100-meter freestyle event. He was the second swimmer of African descent, after Anthony Nesty of Suriname, to win an individual gold medal in Olympic swimming. He is the first United States citizen of African descent to earn a gold medal in an individual Olympic swimming event. In 2017, he knelt for the US national anthem prior to the start of a competition in Brazil.