You may not agree with me, and I'm ok with that.
Political protest has no place at the Olympics. When I saw another American athlete giving protest on the medal stand (Gwen Berry-https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/24/sport/olympics-tokyo-protest-rule-50-spt-trnd/index.html ), I quickly thought of all the privileges this woman has. She throws her protest to a country which has given her the ability through freedom to express those opinions-Great! I love that she can protest my beloved country. What I do not love is the irreverence for the Olympics. It should be a neutral ground. It should be a place where people from all over the world can come together, put their political and religious differences aside and compete to be the best. They, whether they like it or not, do represent their countries. Gwen Berry and several others in protest are welcome to leave the United States and denounce their citizenship. I invite them to do that as soon as possible! If the US is such a terrible place to live that you do not feel pride when you hear the national anthem, pick another country to live in. Interestingly enough, we're not forcing you to come back!
Sure there have been protests at the Olympics before. It's been against the rules then and it is against the rules now. That should not change. If you want to raise a protest because this is the only time in your life that you believe you'll have the greatest voice, you're an idiot! If you win Gold at the Olympics, what do you think happens next? You think no one will ever want to see you again and that you're only important in that moment? Absolutely not! You will be invited all over the world to speak, to coach, to inspire. Use those moments for your political agenda...when you're paid to give it.
I feel it is near treasonous to protest against your home country when competing at the Olympics. It's not murder, but it is a betrayal to your country. I do not agree with professional athletes pushing their politics on the field, either. Play the game. You want to get into politics, do it off the field/court/track. You wanna share your political beliefs during an election, go ahead. I'll point out that I don't think your opinion matters much more or less than anybody else's on the street, but if I had that bully pulpit, I would use it, too...equal rights?
This bugs me on such a huge level. If you agree with me, let me know why. If you disagree, let me know why. If you don't care, just leave an upvote, follow me, and move on to the next great post ;)
Thanks!
Image from https://unsplash.com/photos/x15GAQNepcQ