US sport protests: Eight times American athletes took action

Major sporting events in the US have been called off as athletes protest against racial injustice in America.

Three NBA play-off games, two Major League Baseball matches, three WNBA fixtures and five Major League Soccer games were postponed after players took action following the police shooting of an African-American man, Jacob Blake, in Wisconsin last week.

Blake continues to recover in hospital, but this latest action follows months of unrest in the US following the death of George Floyd in May.

Since then, sporting stars across the world have taken the knee in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, but it's not the first time athletes have protested in support of a political issue.

The attention on sport and sports stars means that sometimes, a simple gesture can go a long way.

Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics

At the Olympic Games in Mexico City, two black US medallists - Tommie Smith and John Carlos - took to the podium with their heads bowed and eyes closed, their hands raised with black gloves, and fists clenched.

Their 'black power salute' during the playing of the American national anthem was a silent protest by the athletes against racial injustice in America.

At the time black people in the US were treated unfairly and weren't allowed to do the same things as white people. Many people in 1960s America had been campaigning for civil rights and the Olympic games in Mexico had come just six months after famous activist Martin Luther King, Jr had been killed.

After learning of Carlos and Smith's plans, white Australian athlete Peter Norman, who won silver, said: "I will stand with you." You can see a human-rights badge on his jacket, as well as on the two US athletes' tops.

Kathrine Switzer becomes the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon

Katherine Switzer gets grabbed by an official during Boston marathon in 1967

The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon, starting in 1897. However, after 70 years, there had still not been any women allowed to compete.

Then Kathrine Switzer broke the rules and became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon in 1967.

After entering the all-male marathon using her initials K.V. Switzer, instead of her full name, nobody knew she was a woman and she was issued with an official number.

Two miles into the marathon the race director Jock Semple tried to pull her off the course, but was stopped by Switzer's boyfriend who barged him away from her. Switzer managed to finish the race becoming the first woman to officially do so.

In the years that followed she continued to campaign for women to be allowed to enter marathons. And in 1972 women were officially allowed to compete. Katherine Switzer has now run more than 40 marathons, including the London Marathon in 2018.

Muhammad Ali refuses to fight in the Vietnam war

Muhammed Ali refused to be drafted into the US military to fight in Vietnam in 1967, at the time he said as a Muslim it was against his religious beliefs and that he was against the war.

In an earlier interview he said that he had no plans to fight in Vietnam: "My conscience won't let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America," he had explained.

After he refused to serve in the army, Ali was stripped of his boxing license and titles, was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison.

Having appealed the decision in the Supreme Court, Ali never spent any time in jail and in 1971 the court overturned his conviction.

But after being banned from boxing, one of the greatest ever athletes had lost four years of his career.

Craig Hodges visit to the White House

Craig Hodges wore a dashiki when he met President George Bush at the White house.

Craig Hodges was a basketball player who helped the Chicago Bulls win their first two NBA titles in the 1990s.

He was also a social activist and a Muslim, and when the Bulls were invited to the White House after winning the '92 NBA title, he wore a dashiki, a traditional piece of clothing that is often worn in west Africa.

He also handed President George Bush a letter in which he expressed his concern about racism in America and his opposition to Operation Desert Storm, where the US military was fighting against Iraqi forces in Kuwait in the Middle East.

Shortly after the visit, The Chicago Bulls released Hodges, saying the reason was because 'he couldn't play defence'.

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf prays during the national anthem

In 1996, Denver Nuggets player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf was suspended for one game after sitting down during the American national anthem, he said that he took the action because the US flag was a symbol of "oppression and tyranny."

The NBA and Abdul-Rauf later came to a compromise, allowing him to close his eyes and look downward while standing during the anthem.

From then on, Abdul-Rauf said a prayer to himself with his eyes closed while the anthem was playing.

Many people were unhappy with his actions though, five years later, Abdul-Rauf's home was burned down deliberately while he wasn't there.

'I can't breathe'

The Black Lives Matter movement has been active in the US for several years.

Eric Garner died in Police custody in 2014, prompting NBA players LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Jarret Jack and Kevin Garnett to wear T-shirts with the words "I can't breathe".

The T-shirts were a reference to the words of Eric Garner before he died.

Taking the knee

In a protest against police brutality and social injustice facing black Americans, San Francisco 49ers player Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem before NFL matches in 2016.

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour," he said.

The protest spread as players from other teams took to their knees too.

At the time, Donald Trump criticised the action of taking the knee in protest and the NFL even fined teams whose players kneeled during the anthem.

Since then, the NFL has said it was "wrong" for not allowing players to protest. However Kaepernick, who left the 49ers in 2017, hasn't played for another team since.

In 2020 after the death of George Floyd, taking the knee became a way of showing solidarity with the Black Lives Matter campaign and was adopted by people all over the world including Premier League footballers in England.

2020 US sporting protests

Tennis player Naomi Osaka said "before I am an athlete, I am a black woman"

Following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin last week by police several US sporting events were postponed after protests from athletes.

Players from the US basketball team the Milwaukee Bucks decided to call off their match against Orlando Magic.

"Despite the overwhelming plea for change, there has been no action, so our focus today cannot be on basketball... We are calling for justice for Jacob Blake and demand the officers be held accountable," the players said in a statement.

Former US president Barack Obama wrote on Twitter: "I commend the players on the Bucks for standing up for what they believe in."

Tennis player Naomi Osaka also withdrew from her semi-final at the Western & Southern Open in New York, saying "before I am an athlete, I am a black woman".