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Free to Use and Reuse: Athletes

Athletic skill and talent are essential in many physical sports, games, and artistic performances. This selection of rights-free pictures highlights athletes in more than forty different professional and recreational activities. All pictures are from the Prints & Photographs Division unless otherwise credited. Browse more content that is free to use and reuse

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  Althea Gibson, U.S. and Wimbledon tennis champion, gives some pointers on the game. Photo by Ed Ford, 1957

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  “Ball play”—Choctaw stickball, forerunner of lacrosse. Book illustration by George Catlin, 1844. Rare Book and Special Collections Division

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  Auto polo. Photo by Bain News Service, 1910-1915

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  Soccer game, San Pedro, California. Photo by Ken Light, 1989. Italian Americans in the West collection, American Folklife Center.

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  Cornelius Johnson, winner of the gold medal at the 1936 Olympics, in a high jump

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  Pair figure skating. Photo by Angelo Rizzuto, 1953

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  A mountain biker at the Winter Carnival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2016

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  Rowing Squad, Columbia. Photo by Bain News Service, 1908

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  Men and women climbing Paradise Glacier, Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington. Photo by Curtis & Miller, 1910s

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  Equestrian: Ann Taylor on a horse as it jumps over an obstacle, Colorado. Photo by Toni Frissell, 1967

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  Sumo wrestlers. Photo by Stillfried & Andersen, about 1877

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  Athletes wrestling. Photos by Eadweard Muybridge for "The Attitudes of Animals in Motion," 1881

• Gymnastics: Athlete with wand, National Turn Verein, Newark, N.J. 1894? National Audiovisual Conservation Center

• Acrobats: Adam Forepaugh and Sells Brothers, America's greatest shows combined. Circus poster by Strobridge, 1898'

• Cycling: Orient quad, 1898.

• Curling in Central Park, New York. Photo by Byron, 1900-1906

• Hiking: Anvil Rock, Alaska. Photo by Lomen Bros., 1900-1930

• Hammer thrower, Yale. Poster by Edward Penfield, 1908

• Women fencing at Professor O. Malvido’s. Photo by Bain News Service, 1908

• Lacrosse. Photo by National Photo Co., 1909-1923

• Boxing: Jack Johnson, 1910

• Diving, Annette Kellermann, Fifth Avenue Theatre, New York. Poster by Frederic G. Cooper, 1910s

• Race car driver Joan Newton Cuneo. Photo by Harris & Ewing, 1910s

• Sam Luzofsky (one leg) and Lon Young (one arm) boxing, 1910s

• Horse racing: Jockey Danny Maher. Photo by Bain News Service, 1910s

• Football player Jim Thorpe. Photo by Harris & Ewing, 1910s

• Army rifle shooting, Olympic games, Stockholm, Sweden, 1912. Photo by Bain News Service

• Polo. Photo by Harris & Ewing, 1915

• Field hockey: Vassar College, 1915

• Japanese wrestlers. Photo by Bain News Service. Photo by Bain News Service, 1915-1920

• Archery meet, National Archery Tournament, Jersey City, New Jersey. Photo by Bain News Service, 1916

• Gymnastics. Formal exercises are just as essential for the maintenance of the health of those who have lost their sight as for those who see. American Red Cross, 1919

• Surf riders, Honolulu. Woodcut by Charles W. Bartlett, 1920

• Tom Armour wins U.S. golf title by defeating Harry Cooper. National Photo Co., 1927

• Alice Marble playing tennis at Forest Hills, New York, 1937

• Student with recreational director during basketball game, Prairie Farms, Montgomery, Alabama. Photo by Marion Post Wolcott, 1939

• Bowling. Clinton, Indiana. Photo by Arthur Rothstein, 1940

• Volleyball, “Manzanar Relocation Center,” California. Photo by Ansel Adams, 1943

• Rita Phillips, majorette. Photo by Wm. C. Greene, 1939

• Cricket: One man with a bat and the wicket keeper on a cricket pitch. Photo by Harris & Ewing, 1920 or 1921

• First American Olympic ice hockey team, 1920

• Women competing in low hurdle race, Washington, D.C., 1920-1930

• Hawaiian swimming team at Wardman Park Pool, Washington, DC, 1924

• Woman playing golf. Photo by Theodor Horydczak 1930s or 1940s

• Greenbelt, Maryland. Handball courts behind the swimming pool. Photo by Marjory Collins, 1942

• Judo: Various forms of wrestling were favorites at the centers. Photo by Signal Corps, U.S. Army, 1942

• Baseball: Front cover of the Jackie Robinson comic book, with Robinson wearing a Brooklyn Dodgers cap, 1951

• Dance: Alvin Ailey. Photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1955

• Skiing at Aspen, state of Colorado--Travel a new world--See the U.S.A., 1962

• Babb Indian Rodeo, Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana. Photo by Tom McBride, 1979. Montana Folklife Survey, American Folklife Center

• Karate class, Korean School, Silver Spring, Maryland. Photo by Lucy Long, 1982. Ethnic Heritage and Language Schools in America Project, American Folklife Center