Muhammad Ali had a busy week in the summer of 1960 when he announced himself to the boxing world with a string of impressive victories.
The all-time great Heavyweight, then known by his birth name Cassius Clay, travelled to Rome with Team USA to compete in the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Muhammad Ali was fighting in the Light Heavyweight division, which, at six feet three, gave him a huge height advantage over many of his peers
At just 18 years old, the Greatest was yet to become a household name, but four wins in one week announced the trash-talking Ali onto the world stage for the first time.
Muhammad Ali beat four opponents in the summer of 1960 to win the Olympic gold medal in boxing
At the tender age of 18, the uber-confident Ali burst onto the scene as an American hero in the Rome Olympics.
Ali fought in the Light Heavyweight tournament at the 1960 Summer Games, which brought him a busy schedule over a week.
Between August 30 and September 5, Ali fought four times against some of the top amateur boxers from across the globe.
In the opening round, he impressed all five judges by beating Belgian Yvon Becau, winning a unanimous decision in the three-round bout.
Ali did the same against the USSR’s Gennady Shatkov in the quarter finals before outclassing Australian rugby union player Tony Madigan to guarantee himself a medal in Rome.
In the final bout, the future Heavyweight champion easily beat Polish champion Zbigniew Pietrykowski over three rounds, much to the delight of the crowd who were enamoured by Ali’s fighting style.
The taller, rangy Ali used his incredible hand speed and unmatched footwork to outbox the Pole, giving a preview of what would make him a household name as a professional.
While there were no knockdowns in the fight, Pietrykowski was peppered with jabs throughout the bout as he dodged almost everything the Polish fighter had to offer him before landing counter punches to wow the Roman crowd.
This clean performance was a class above the rest, as the judges all agreed Ali won the fight, as they awarded him a unanimous decision win and the gold medal.
It was one of the happiest days of Ali’s life, but the joy of becoming an American hero would soon wear off when he returned home.
In protest of racism, Muhammad Ali tossed his gold medal into the Ohio River
While the joys of winning Olympic gold will have been incredible for a young Cassius Clay, Ali quickly realized that nothing had changed when he returned to America.
Segregation was still in full force in the US in 1960, so Ali was treated as a second-class citizen when he returned home, despite his achievements in Rome.
This came to a breaking point in 1964, as revealed in Ali’s 1975 autobiography, when The Greatest tossed his medal into the Ohio River after being refused service at a restaurant due to his race.
While the veracity of this story has been disputed, the Olympic committee attempted to make amends years later, when Ali lit the Olympic flame at the Atlanta Games in 1996.
He was handed a replacement medal for his 1960 victory, 36 years after his victory, which started his journey to become the greatest of all time.