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In 2000, former South African President Nelson Mandela declared that “sport has the power to change the world.” Two decades later, 2020 proved he was right.
This was a year in which athletes of all different talents: footballers; basketball players; track and field stars; tennis players; F1 drivers – from all over the world mobilized.
They protested against racism. And they demanded a change.
US-based Sierra Leone footballer Kei Kamara, who joined the protests after George Floyd’s death, told BBC Sport that his children and his future inspired him to take a stand.
“I lay on the floor for nine minutes and my son actually lay next to me, without my asking, and Kendrick is only three years old,” Kamara said.
“He just decided to lie down next to me. I turned around and saw him and he hit me so hard, like ‘wow’.
“I am very, very grateful to all the other races that are with us now because they have given us a voice.”
2020 was also the year that English Premier League footballers began to kneel before kick-off in a show of unity against racism.
For Tori Franklin, the American record holder for triple jump, the sport has the ability to bring about a change in people’s minds and play its part in fighting racism.
“I feel like sport can really make a big impact,” Franklin said.
“Sports is a huge part of American culture. He has a lot of television time, a lot of press. Athletics teams that stand up and protest something will have a huge impact. “
On August 26, 2020, the Milwaukee Bucks NBA team refused to play Game 5 of their playoff series against the Orlando Magic following the shooting of African American Jacob Blake by a police officer near their home stadium.
This led to the NBA not only rescheduling this game, but also all other games to be played that night.
And several other sports followed, supporting athletes’ decisions to boycott a game: sports like baseball, soccer, and tennis.
For Franklin, all sports have a voice and must speak out against racism, regardless of their profile.
“Of course, we definitely have a voice,” he said.
“Our voice, obviously, is not as big as the NBA, but there have been many athletes who have protested in the competition: Gwen Berry in 2019 at the Pan Am Games, Noah Lyles did it this year, in Monaco. [Athletics Diamond League meeting], wearing a glove and raising the black fist.
“And numerous athletes have been posting on their social media, coming out to protest, just being very involved, including myself.”
Inspiring change
The largest platform for athletics is the Olympics, an event that, had the coronavirus not occurred, would have been the focal point of the sporting year.
And throughout history, athletes have used the Olympics to raise awareness of social and political issues, something the International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not allow.
In January 2020, with the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in sight, the IOC published new guidelines explaining the meaning of rule 50, a long-standing rule that states that “no political demonstration or propaganda is allowed , religious or racial in any Olympic venue, venues or other areas. “
The IOC explicitly condemned “hand gestures or kneeling” and any “refusal to follow the protocol of ceremonies.”
This came after the incident at the 2019 Pan Am Games referred to by Tori Franklin, when American hammer throw winner Gwen Berry raised her fist at the end of the medal ceremony and fencing winner Race Imboden knelt during the medal ceremony to protest racial inequality in America.
Both were put on probation for 12 months and Berry said he lost the sponsorship.
Such a position comes at a significant cost to athletes, not only financially but also to their lives.
The most emblematic example of this continues to be that of the Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who stood on the podium in the 200 meters without shoes, wearing black socks, black gloves and raised fists at the 1968 Mexico Games. Australian silver medalist Peter Norman also wore badges from the Olympic Human Rights Project.
The Americans were suspended and expelled from the Olympic Village. All of them were ostracized when they returned to their countries and Australia only officially apologized years after Norman’s death.
But today, the three men are celebrated as legends and heroes, even by the IOC itself.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, marathon silver medalist Feyisa Lilesa shocked the world when he raised his crossed wrists above his head (as if they were chained) as he crossed the finish line, a sign publicizing the protests of the Oromo occurring in Ethiopia at that time, against social and political marginalization.
Ethiopia’s prime minister resigned two years later, and the new leader implemented many reforms. If the change was not directly caused by Lilesa’s position, there is no doubt that it forced the world to look at what was happening in her country at that time.
But rule 50 of the IOC is clear: such a demonstration is not allowed at the Olympics.
Tori Franklin says the athletes are trying to find common ground with the Olympic authorities.
“Athletes have created the Athletics Association which is run by a few track and field athletes. They are also doing their part, trying to urge the US Olympic committee to allow protests within the competition without punishing those athletes. “
Breaking racial barriers
In the documentary Jesse Owens Returns To Berlin, the legendary black American athlete, whose dominance at the 1936 Olympics, under the gaze of Hitler, proved all wrong with the horrible Nazi ideology, says: “There is a link between athletes of all races, religions and color that transcends all prejudice. “
Sprinter Owens won four golds at those Olympics. He knew all about the power of sport to break down racial barriers.
An example of this was his friendship with the German long jump athlete Luz Long, the physical archetype of Hitler’s Aryan theory, at a time in history when everything in the world seemed to be opposed to them. But they maintained a shared humanity through sports and, perhaps, their faith.
Some 84 years later, athletes from all sports came together to oppose racism. It may have been triggered by events in the United States, but the reaction was global.
Watch Burnley captain Ben Mee seething with barely contained anger in a live interview in response to a plane flying over his club grounds with a White Lives Matter banner.
“Whats Next?” was the question that followed the NBA boycott of the Milwaukee Bucks on August 26.
“It’s a long road,” said Tori Franklin, reflecting on the year.
“But I do believe that the things that we are doing are having an impact.”
It will take more than sport to change the world for the better.
But history has shown that sport has power; the power to bring people together, inspire change, create hope and break down racial barriers.
