It seems like everyone is protesting these days, especially on the playing field. But there’s one group of athletes you won’t see taking a knee anytime soon: Olympians — and not just because the Games are postponed. |
The International Olympic Committee bans athletes from protesting, to protect the “neutrality of sport.” (The more cynical might observe that avoiding controversy is good for business.) |
At least one athlete has had enough. In our video Op-Ed “I Used the Podium to Protest. The Olympic Committee Punished Me,” the track and field Olympian Gwen Berry explains how she has been encouraged to pursue her boldest athletic dreams — unless she stands up for what she believes in. When Gwen raised her fist for racial justice on the medal podium last summer, the U.S. Olympic Committee reprimanded her. Now she’s calling on them to change the rules and allow athletes to protest. It’s a David vs. Goliath setup, but she’s not intimidated by impossible goals. |
As a senior editor in Opinion and a competitive distance runner, I’ve spent years examining our culture through the lens of sport, especially where gender and race are concerned. (You can find my reporting in our video series “Equal Play,” which is nominated for an Emmy.) When protesting from the field became increasingly mainstream this summer, I thought about Gwen and what it must feel like to see so many athletes take a stand when she’d risked her career to do the same and was met with anger and silence. |
I called her up to ask, and was so moved by her story that my colleague Adam Westbrook and I asked her to share it with all of you in a Video Op-Ed. |
Gwen was raised by her grandmother in Ferguson, Mo., in a three-bedroom home with 13 other people. The smallest children slept in closets. She had her own baby at 15, but still won a scholarship to college, where she discovered the hammer throw (which, as you’ll see in the video, is mesmerizing). |
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All Olympians work hard, but I was stunned by what it took for Gwen to qualify for the Olympics in 2016. That year, she started each day with four hours of training. But Olympians don’t receive a salary, so she then worked six hours selling shoes at Dick’s Sporting Goods followed by six more hours driving a delivery truck for Insomnia Cookies. She’d finish work at 3 a.m. |
To me, Gwen’s story shows what it takes to be an American Olympian in 2020 — glory and hardship alike. |
She’s earned her podium and the right to tell her story, and I respect that she isn’t downplaying her experiences to make the rest of us comfortable. But of course, Gwen’s push for justice only matters if we listen to what she has to say — and amplify her voice. |
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