It’s impossible to invite countries worldwide to compete in a multi-sport event like the Olympics without politics seeping through. Athletes are humans, and to expect them to stay silent in the face of adversity and injustice is to diminish their voices on the very platforms where they were invited to showcase their talents to the world.
However, apoliticism is an expectation that the International Olympic Committee has for everyone participating in their games. Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, they issued their Declaration by the IOC against the politicization of sport, which states, “Sports organizations within the Olympic Movement shall apply political neutrality.”
Per the Olympic charter, “The mission of the IOC is to promote Olympism throughout the world and to lead the Olympic Movement. The IOC’s role is to oppose any political or commercial abuse of sport and athletes.”
But what’s a gold medal worth when injustices occur all over the world? These 14 athletes stood for something during their appearance at the Olympics.
1.Jesse Owens
An impactful moment etched in history, Jesse Owens challenged Adolf Hitler’s Nazi propaganda after winning four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics in 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump, and 4×100 meter relay. Though not an outright protest, Hitler’s attempt to proclaim the athletic superiority of the Aryan race was spoiled as Owens stood at the top of the podium.
It’s widely rumored that Hitler “snubbed” Owens following his Olympics triumph. However, according to History.com, the Nazi leader met a request to treat all athletes equally by refusing to congratulate any athlete. Other reports claim that Hitler saluted Owens from a distance.
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2.Tommie Smith and John Carlos
Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in a display of the Black Power salute in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics during the medal ceremony for the 200-meter race in solidarity and support of civil rights for Black Americans.
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3.Feyisa Lilesa
At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Feyisa Lilesa crossed his arms as he made his way through the finish line to protest the treatment of the Oromo people by the Ethiopian government.
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4.Waseem Abu Sal
As the Olympics attempted to push back against the politicization at Paris 2024, Waseem Abu Sal, a Palestinian boxer from West Bank, made a strong statement. He attended the opening ceremony with a T-shirt that showed children being bombed. Though he lost his bout, he proclaimed, “The Olympic Games are already a victory for Palestine,” per Democracy Now!
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5.Noah Lyles
According to AP, Noah Lyles raised a black-gloved fist during the 2021 Olympics trial run in honor of the Black Lives Matter movement, which he has vocally supported over the years.
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6.Věra Čáslavská
7.Raven Saunders
US shot putter Raven Saunders raised their arms in an X shape after winning the silver medal in the 2020 Olympics. Saunders told NBC that it was symbolic of “the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet.”
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8.Cathy Freeman
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Indigenous sprinter Australian Cathy Freeman won the 400-meter race and used that moment to uplift her community. Draping herself in the Aboriginal flag, she emphasized pride and the struggle for Indigenous rights. This move was even more significant since she had been sent home at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Canada for wearing both the Australian flag and the Australian Aboriginal flag during a victory lap, per AP.
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9.Ibtihaj Muhammad
Amid Donald Trump’s talks of a Muslim ban and a general influx of Islamophobia, fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad set a strong precedent as the first member of Team USA to compete in a hijab at the 2016 Olympic Games. “I definitely had apprehension answering these questions,” she told Al-Jazeera in an exclusive interview following the Olympics, “but I felt like this was my opportunity to dispel a lot of stereotypes that people have about the Muslim community, about where we’re from, what we look like.”
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10.Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, and other members of the US Women’s Soccer team.
The 2021 Tokyo Olympics saw many athletes take a knee to protest racial discrimination. Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, and others from the US Women’s Soccer team followed lead, along with other athletes from different countries, per TODAY.
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11.Bohdana Matsotska
Bohdana Matsotska, an alpine skier from Ukraine, withdrew from the 2014 Sochi Olympics following the violent crackdown on protesters in Kyiv. As the BBC reports, Matsotska and her father, who was also her coach, condemned the government’s use of force and emphasized that they couldn’t compete in the games while people were being killed and injured back home.
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12.Gwen Berry
Team USA’s hammer thrower Gwen Berry turned away from the flag and held up a T-shirt that read “Activist Athlete” at the trials for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics on the podium. Though she later denied that she purposefully did it during the national anthem, she explained, “All I said was I respect my people enough to not stand or acknowledge something that disrespects them. I love my people point blank, period.”
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13.Muhammad Ali
Though not an act that took place at the Olympics, Muhammad Ali threw his gold medal from the 1960 Rome Games in the Ohio River after dealing with extreme racial discrimination upon his return to his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. “And I felt no pain and no regret,” Ali wrote in his autobiography The Greatest, per NBC. “Only relief, and a new strength.” During the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Ali received a replacement.
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14.Fethi Nourine
Judoka Fethi Nourine of Algeria took on a 10-year ban from the International Judo Federation after withdrawing from a bout against Israel’s Tohar Butbul at the Tokyo Olympics in solidarity with Palestine, the Guardian reports.
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