Opinion: Why you should pay attention to the role of race in sport during this summer’s Olympics

Opinion by Keith Magee

(CNN) — For many nations — not least the US — the upcoming Paris Olympics will take place against a background of deep political and social division. Perhaps, though, the biggest sporting spectacle in the world will unite us for a few days in a way our political leaders cannot. It may also prompt us to think about what it means to be patriotic.

Terry Shoemaker of Arizona State University says the Olympics can be understood “as a civil religious ceremony with a global congregation.” The Games’ lavish parades and thrilling competitions often inspire viewers around the world to express an almost transcendental, if sometimes somewhat fleeting, devotion to their nation state.

A whole country can feel validation by the success of even just one of its athletes. A lot rests then on those athletes’ shoulders. It matters who they are, how they feel about their country, and how it feels about them. Sadly, for athletes who represent the former colonial, enslaver or majority White nations of the global north, how their nations perceive them all too often is inextricably linked to the color of their skin.

If you saw any of the European Athletics Championships events last month, you may well have been struck, as I was, by just how many Black athletes featured on podiums. For fans of track and field, this was especially noticeable.

The leading Greek pole vaulter Emmanuel Karalis, and Germany’s top female long jumper Malaika Mihambo, who won silver and gold respectively in their disciplines, are of African heritage. All four members of the silver medal-winning Dutch men’s 4×100 relay team are Black. In the men’s 200m final, the gold and bronze medals went to Swiss runners, both of whom are of African descent.

I couldn’t help but be moved by the crowds of spectators enthusiastically waving their national standards and cheering for these champions. In a world where Black players are often racially abused on Europe’s soccer fields, it’s refreshing to see the degree to which these athletes are embraced by their fellow citizens.

When Europeans proudly embrace minority athletes as their own it must say something about public attitudes to the changing face of the continent. I felt a surge of optimism. Surely such moments can only help tear down prejudices and promote tolerance?

At the Summer Olympics, the USA team will also feature numerous Black athletes, including gymnast Simone Biles, sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson and the (current) fastest man on earth, Noah Lyles. Will their presence promote racial and perhaps even political harmony in our frighteningly polarized country? After all, values such as equal opportunities, respect and the practice of sport “without discrimination of any kind” are central to the Olympic project.

But before we get too carried away by dreams of a more just society being ushered in on the coattails of sporting idealism, we should pause to look beyond the flag-festooned stadiums. Across Europe, far-right parties with overtly racist and anti-migrant platforms are on the rise. In the US, we’re seeing the mainstreaming of the White nationalist ideas espoused by many Trump supporters.

And in too many countries, the effect of entrenched racism on people’s lives is devastating. Last year, a survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights found almost half Black people living in the EU were traumatized by the racism they routinely encountered. A UK study revealed similarly high levels of discrimination affecting British people from ethnic and religious minority groups, while a 2022 report found about eight in 10 Black Americans have experienced racism.

Sports stars, of course, are not spared. Countless Black athletes — among them Italian sprinter Zaynab Dosso, Spanish triple jumper Ana Peleteiro, and German 100m champion Owen Ansah, to name but a few — have been the victims of racism at home. This is despite their impressive medal collections, or perhaps because of it.

Some purveyors of hate resent seeing their country represented at the highest levels of sport by athletes of color. In February, an Italian general was suspended for writing a book containing homophobic and racist views. He wrote of volleyball player Paola Egonu, who was born in Italy to Nigerian parents, “She is Italian by citizenship, but it is clear that her facial features do not represent Italianness.”

Life in France, the host country of the Paris Olympics, is not always easy for its non-white citizens either. An alarming 2023 survey found nine out of 10 Black people in France have experienced racism. Although Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (NR) party was blocked from power when left and centrist parties united in the recent parliamentary elections, the NR increased its number of seats and won 37% of the vote share. Racism, xenophobia and anti-migrant rhetoric have not gone away.

Reports that Franco-Malian superstar singer Aya Nakamura could be invited to perform an Edith Piaf song at the Olympics opening ceremony caused a racist backlash from French extremist groups. Meanwhile, in direct contravention of IOC rules, France has used its strict secularism laws to ban its female Muslim athletes from wearing the hijab, or headscarf, at events and in the Olympic village. In a country in which Muslims represent an estimated 10% of the population, the hijab ban — condemned by the United Nations as discriminatory — can only be seen as gendered Islamophobia.

In fact, racial injustice in sport often falls hardest on female Black and Brown athletes. Often victims of disheartening misogynoir, many are unfairly criticized and sometimes sanctioned by governing bodies for their appearance, efforts to preserve their own mental or physical health or expressing their political opinions.

As you watch the Olympics this summer, take note of the sports in which Black people represent the USA and European countries. I’ll wager you won’t see many Black equestrians, rowers or archers. In expensive sports, Black champions like Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis players Serena and Venus Williams are very much the exceptions. In contrast, in the low-equipment, affordable sports, such as track and field, boxing and basketball, you’ll find national teams packed with Black superstars.

Previous attempts to explain this phenomenon have been based on patronizing and dangerously racialized theories. The notion that Black people everywhere have some kind of biological advantage — a gene for speed, perhaps — has thankfully been debunked in recent years. Also discounted, mercifully, is the suggestion that the impact of transatlantic chattel slavery confers greater physical prowess on individuals descended from enslaved people bred for strength and stamina.

Lest we forget, race is a false social construct. Racism is not. Many Black people in Europe and the US come from disadvantaged backgrounds and are impacted by structural racism that limits their educational and career opportunities, as well as their access to a wide range of sports.

Activities such as running require little or no investment and can provide a route to achieving recognition in a society in which Black people tend to be marginalized. So no, Black athletes are not naturally better at some sports — they take the narrower opportunities open to them and work incredibly hard on their self-belief to make it to that podium. Whether they win medals or not, we should all be in awe of their resilience.

Nothing would make me happier than to see this year’s Olympic Games contribute to a lasting greater acceptance, even celebration of diversity in the countries of the global north. I hope the fans who rejoice in the ephemeral sporting glory of their Olympic team’s Black athletes and laud them as national heroes will remember long after the end of the closing ceremony that all their Black neighbors, coworkers, and fellow citizens are their compatriots too.

I pray the Games will unite us in rejecting racism and remind us that in truly equal societies, national identity is built on shared values, and real patriotism is defined not by ethnicity or faith but by love.

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