Black History Month will end with a celebration of people of color who have made their mark in the sports history books.

The 2025 class of inductees of the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame (TBSHOF) will be celebrated thanks to the Friends of Sports History of the African American Museum in Dallas and sponsored by the Parrish Charitable Foundation.

One of those athletes being inducted is Olympic gold medalist Michelle Carter. Carter, who calls North Texas home, earned her place in history long before now. She won gold at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. It was then that she became the first American woman to win gold in the shot put and just the second to win a medal of any color.

“It’s still a little bit of a shock that that’s happened in my life because sometimes we have these big dreams, and you never know if they’re actually going to come through. But mine did,” Carter said.

NBC 5 talked to Carter at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where she talked about how it has become an honor watching the Games after participating in three herself.

Her father, Michael Carter, was also an Olympian. He won the silver medal in the shot put at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She said, standing on his shoulders and so many other sports greats who she said paved the way.

“Because I feel like that’s what life is about. We’re here to help and encourage each other. And you only can do that your very best when you choose to show up your very best and be fully who you are meant to be,” Carter said.

While she is retired from actively participating in her sport, she said she is just getting started inspiring the next generation.

“Not only do we just work on sports, but we also work on the young girls’ confidence. We build them up from the inside out because I truly believe once they believe in themselves fully that no matter what they do, sports or anything else, they have the confidence to get it done and to be good in it,” Carter said.

This year’s enshrinement is under the mantra “Celebrating Athletic Brilliance.” It marks 29 years of honoring and recognizing an iconic and inspiring lineup of history-making sports figures in the Lone Star State.

Carter credits much of her athletic brilliance and success to focusing small but dreaming big.

“I think sometimes we get, we overwhelm ourselves dreaming too big, too soon. When sometimes just focusing on the next best thing, your very next step that you can take. If you keep taking those little steps, eventually, you’ll be at your big goal. And it’s easier than what you ever imagined because you didn’t go too much too soon. You just took it little by little,” Carter said.

This year’s inductees include: Larry Brown (football), Harold Cash (rodeo), Michelle Carter (shotput) Derrick James (boxing, trainer), Larry Johnson (basketball), Gladys Lee (coach, golf), Eugene Lockhart, Jr. (football), Calvin Murray (baseball), Fritz Pollard (coach, football, posthumously), LaDainian Tomlinson (football), Ken Washington (football) and Greg Williams (coach, track and field). Cynt Marshall, former CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, will receive the Parrish Award. Marshall was the first Black woman to become the CEO of an NBA team in the league’s history.

The luncheon will be held on Saturday, March 1, at 11 a.m. at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel.