Written by An argument has erupted in the United States over Gwen Berry’s protest against the nation’s anthem and the flag at the Olympic track and field trials. The hammer thrower also placed a black t-shirt over her face that read “Activist Athlete” and now faces the very real prospect of being ousted from the Olympic team.
For her part, Berry felt that the anthem was played at that moment to bait her or set her up for her unplanned protest which in her own words was ‘disrespectful’. Spokeswoman for USA Track and Field debunked this by stating that the anthem was played at a specific time, once a day and that they were not waiting for Berry to be on the podium for it.
We must wonder at the thought processes involved in deciding to accept a place representing your country when you’re not exactly loving your country. And if that isn’t the case then maybe the nation is being held responsible for the feelings and actions of certain groups. One could suspect that either the athlete had planned to use the position to push a political agenda, or that they are unable to distance from their allegiance to the cause and unwilling to relinquish their honored spot. Certainly, it is proactive, progressive and healthy to want your nation to fit your ideals, to want the best from it and for it. To fight for equality and justice and using your cache as a sporting identity is acceptable, even responsible. At what point though can you be so out of alignment with your government but still accept the honor of representing it.
In 1994 at the Commonwealth Games in Canada, and again in 2000 at the Olympic Games in Sydney, Indigenous Australian track champion, Cathy Freeman had begun her lap of honor after winning her event sporting the Aboriginal flag. In 1994 the indigenous flag was not official, in 2000 it was officially recognized as representative of the Aboriginal people, but her actions drew criticism anyway. A quick-thinking colleague handed her the Australian flag which she then held aloft with it, but not before incurring censure. It isn’t quite the same issue but in both these incidences; Freeman and Berry, there is divided opinion of whether such actions distanced a faction of the population from their nation’s flag. In Freeman’s case, people were concerned that other nations would not understand the Indigenous flag and what it represented, that it’s being brandished would cause confusion in the least, and treacherous aggression at worst.
It is a right to have an opinion and it is responsible to defend it particularly if the intensions are noble, but there are those who find it abhorrent for an athlete to take a much sought after position on an Olympic team but then to turn their back openly on the flag. Among other considerations it also can be argued that such behavior sends a poor message to the rest of the world; that of a nation incapable of unison even to celebrate and honor the amazing athletic talents in the world.
https://www.news.com.au/sport/olympics/hammer-thrower-faces-calls-to-be-banned-from-olympics-for-podium-protest/news-story/174dda31000c2ff3434d4f60d787ec6dhttps://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/offended-but-not-surprised-indigenous-australians-blast-liberal-mp-over-comments-about-cathy-freeman-and-the-aboriginal-flag