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Superstar athletes have long been the fascination of the general public. These talented individuals are often showered with praise and admiration. Unfortunately this praise and admiration is accompanied by relentless public scrutiny which makes it impossible for these individuals to escape the public gaze. This eventually leads to the dehumanisation of these athletes as they are afforded minimal privacy. Furthermore due to the ever increasing scope of advertisements and brand promotions these athletes become essential tools for big companies to promote their products. Due to these reasons all these individuals are expected to behave in a certain manner that can be excessively restrictive. Therefore it won’t be an exaggeration to state that any successful athlete is just one controversy away from career jeopardy.
This is not to say that the extremely high stakes have historically deterred strong individuals from risking their careers and speaking about issues that affected them and their communities. In preceding decades we have seen individuals like Muhammad Ali who was not only an exceptional athlete but also stood up for himself and his community and in the process became an inspiration to millions. In fact many athletes have historically done their bit to highlight multiple issues of social injustice and discrimination. In contrast to this the Olympics has always discouraged and in some cases punished any form of political activism or assertion. For example one of the most infamous moments in the Olympics occurred during the 1968 Mexico City Olympics was when athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos were expelled from the Olympic village for protesting against racial discrimination in USA during the medal distribution ceremonies. The International Olympic committee deemed the gesture to be against the spirit of political neutrality that the Olympics were supposedly based on. The incident of 1968 was not the only instance of the Olympic failing to take a stand against social discrimination and injustice. But progress has been made in recent years. Not due to powerful administrative men and women of the IOC but due to increasingly assertive athletes. In the recently concluded Olympics various athletes have asserted their right to protest and stand up for themselves and their community. Raven Saunders, an athlete who won the silver medal in the women’s shot put event formed an X with her wrists to “represent the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet”. This was not the sole demonstration of support, as this Olympics also saw the Great Britain football team take a knee to demand racial justice. Both these demonstrations made the IOC uncomfortable. Even in these Olympics the old value of neutrality was brought up to delegitimise these moments. This emphasis on neutrality is problematic due to two reasons. Firstly this argument is only brought up when non white athletes make a political statement. Secondly this narrative of neutrality essentially dehumanises athletes and ignores the injustice that they have had to endure. It is high time that we understand that athletes are not mindless entertainers and they have every right to use their rightfully earned podiums to protest injustice.