INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — With the Summer Olympics underway in Paris, many Hoosiers have impacted the games throughout the years. 

From the 1936 Olympics to the 1984 games, many of their stories still live on. 

“There are so many great stories out here. Olympic stories, stories about Indianapolis, about our country, there’s just so much out here,” said David Rieck, President of the Crown Hill Heritage Foundation 

We walked through and told many stories of Hoosiers that have ties to the Olympics. 

John Y. Woodruff participated in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Woodruff was the first African-American Olympic Gold Medalist. Woodruff in the 1936 games won the 800-meter race. He allowed his opponents to pass him, but his win marked the first time in 24 years that the United States had won an Olympic gold medal in the 800-meter race. 

Frank McKinney and Noble Biddinger both competed in the 1932 Olympics. Frank competed in the Olympic trials for swimming while Noble competed in the track and field competitions, but both did not make the 1932 games. 

William Wishard was an Indiana University urologist and namesake of Wishard Memorial Hospital, now known as Eskenazi Hospital. He was a leader in the 1984 Olympics. 

Ronald Davis was a swimmer who should have been in the 1980 Olympics, but due to a boycott that year to protest the invasion of Afghanistan, Davis did not compete. 

Rilus Doolittle ran for Butler University and finished third at the 1924 Olympic Trials in the 5K. During the Olympics in Paris in 1924, Doolittle did not qualify for the finals in the 5K at the Olympics. 

Doolittle also won the 1924 Western Conference Championship, which is now known as the Big 10 Conference) in the 2-mile and was Indiana 2-mile champion from 1922 to 1924. He later became a metallurgist for the P. R. Mallory Company, a producer of dry cell batteries, electronic components including electrolytic capacitors, and audible warning devices. Doolittle was an Indianapolis native who was born here and lived here his entire life.

Stan Malless is also buried inside Crown Hill Cemetery. Malless was an integral part in the tennis community. 

Leaders at Crown Hill say he helped bring the sport back to the international games. 

“Stan was integral in the tennis community. He was integral in bringing tennis back to the Olympics,” Rieck said.

Rieck said it didn’t stop there for Malless 

“He is also integral in ringing tennis to America,” Rieck said. “A lot of the things that you see today on TV that have to do with tennis. The electronic scoring, electronic line faults. He even negotiated one of the first TV contracts.”

Crown Hill offers tours of the cemetery.