# Bronze medal Athlete fidgets and fusses during national anthem **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** olympic-sports-track\ **Created:** [June 28, 2021, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174 "2021-06-28T12:04:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/161 "2021-06-30T15:11:41Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > With the number of non-white athletes competing in track, I would have to assume that a racist in the sound booth would be causing a lot more problems than just mis-timing the playing of the anthem for a relatively unknown athlete in a less popular track event. If the only reason that she would be intentionally targeted was racism, there are a lot of people in this thread who have some explaining to do. Is that your stance? Perhaps the person in the booth just didn’t like her bratty, butthurt, prima-donna, temper-tantrum-throwing self and wanted to show her who’s boss. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/162 "2021-06-30T15:30:31Z")
I feel sorry for those folks who showed up for a patriotic rally and had to endure an athletic competition. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/163 "2021-06-30T15:45:45Z")
You mean like this? [https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/06/29/watch\_senators\_chuck\_grassley\_and\_tom\_cotton\_do\_push-ups\_at\_iowa\_gop\_event.html](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/06/29/watch_senators_chuck_grassley_and_tom_cotton_do_push-ups_at_iowa_gop_event.html) /endhijack ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/164 "2021-06-30T15:46:44Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > If the only reason that she would be intentionally targeted was racism, there are a lot of people in this thread who have some explaining to do. Is that your stance? > > Perhaps the person in the booth just didn’t like her bratty, butthurt, prima-donna, temper-tantrum-throwing self and wanted to show her who’s boss. My impression is that the playing of the anthem late was just a normal human error and had nothing to do with the athletes on the podium. If it was intentional based on racism, then I would expect the racist person to have done something to the many other non-white athletes. If it was due to objection over her negative view towards America, I’m not certain that she’s well-known enough that the sound person would know her or know her stance. Out of the hundreds of track athletes, she’s just one of many, she came in 3rd, and she’s not competing in one of the premier track events. That doesn’t sounds like someone that would have enough publicity for someone to know of her stance and want to show her who’s boss. But if it was done purposefully, I think it makes the most sense that it was because of her anti-American stance rather than because of her race. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/165 "2021-06-30T15:49:46Z")
Is she “anti-American”? Or is she just anti-American racism? I complain about America a lot too, precisely because I want the country to be better, not because I hate the country itself. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/166 "2021-06-30T17:07:45Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > That doesn’t sounds like someone that would have enough publicity for someone to know of her stance and want to show her who’s boss. The world of USA track and field is not that big. Granted, I’ve never heard of this lady before, but I’m not in the T&F business. There are only 24 Olympic events in Athletics, and she was on the Olympic team 5 years ago. There is roughly a 0% chance that the people running the US Olympic Trials don’t know who she is, or don’t know that she protested on the podium during the Anthem when she won the Pan Am games 2 years ago, netting herself a 12mo probation. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/167 "2021-06-30T17:12:25Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > Perhaps the person in the booth just didn’t like her bratty, butthurt, prima-donna, temper-tantrum-throwing self and wanted to show her who’s boss. I doubt that the USATF organizers employ people who indulge in gaslighting their athletes because of their race or any reason at all. [https://www.usatf.org/governance/board-of-directors](https://www.usatf.org/governance/board-of-directors) ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/168 "2021-06-30T17:16:32Z")
Again, I’m not the one saying those who disagree with her protest are racists. I’m also not saying that they aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/169 "2021-06-30T17:35:01Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > The world of USA track and field is not that big. Granted, I’ve never heard of this lady before, but I’m not in the T&F business. There are only 24 Olympic events in Athletics, and she was on the Olympic team 5 years ago. From looking at the results page, it looks like over 900 athletes competed. I agree that someone in the track community is going to be more likely to know her compared to the general public, but she still seems like a relatively minor competitor in the scope of all the athletes competing. She only beat the 4th place person by a few inches to make it onto the podium. Maybe the sound person did have it in for her, but in that case it seems like there would be a lot of other more likely potential targets in that pool of 900 athletes for similar shenanigans. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/170 "2021-06-30T17:56:40Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > And yet, history has shown us, it’s often malice. Does this frequently happen during Olympic trials? Any sort of massive event like this is bound to have some production mishaps. Think pigeon haters were responsible for this? > **[This Little Light of Mine: A Brief History of Olympic Flame Mishaps](https://sputnikglobe.com/20160801/olympics-torch-mishaps-1043840551.html)** > > On July 29, as the Olympic torch was being carried through the streets of Angta dos Reis, a city near Rio de Janeiro, a group of protesters stole the flaming torch and extinguishing it. The following is a list of similar mishaps that have... > **1988 Summer Games in Seoul** > A total of 2,400 white pigeons set free to soar over the stadium chose what they apparently thought was the best seat in the house – the rim of the Olympic flame cauldron. > > Moments later most of them were roasted when the fire ignited. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/171 "2021-06-30T18:09:08Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > There is roughly a 0% chance that the people running the US Olympic Trials don’t know who she is, or don’t know that she protested on the podium during the Anthem when she won the Pan Am games 2 years ago, netting herself a 12mo probation. Okay, say the officials know all that. But say that the sound guy is just that, some guy there working a job (possibly the same job he works for all events there) and realizes he’s late pushing the button. What’s more likely? That somebody in power is up in the booth purposefully dealing with this, or that some local employee who may not even care about a single event there was late pushing a button? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/172 "2021-06-30T18:09:20Z")
How does that logic follow? We’re talking about a repeated scheduled event that always occurred at 5:20, that the athlete was told would not happen during the medal ceremony, that this one time just happened to oops happen at a time the athlete was told explicitly would not happen and also was the one time that was off schdule. (If I am correctly understanding the sequence of events here. Please correct if I am wrong.) In what sense is that like the pigeon anecdote? Now, was it done purposefully? I don’t know. It can be coincidental, but there’s enough circumstance that I don’t think it’s illogical or unreasonable to think it may have been purposeful. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/173 "2021-06-30T18:14:08Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > What’s more likely? That somebody in power is up in the booth purposefully dealing with this, or that some local employee who may not even care about a single event there was late pushing a button? Probably the latter, but I’d only take maybe 2:1 on it. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/174 "2021-06-30T18:15:46Z")
Even if it was unintentional (it probably was) how else do you think she should have comported herself given her stance on the anthem? If an observant Jew is accidentally served pork roast at a banquet, should they just shut up and eat it? ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/175 "2021-06-30T19:30:36Z")
That’s a silly expectation for a dietary mix up and I would suggest Gwen open her heart to the possibility that there is no bogeyman out to get her. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/176 "2021-06-30T19:39:39Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > is the podium a place to stand up against political and social policies the athlete doesn’t agree with? If it’s not, they should really give it a different name. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/178 "2021-06-30T19:54:00Z")
I am not convinced that the bit about “the hireling and the slave” in the National Anthem is referring to actual enslaved people; rather it’s pretty clear that he’s calling George III’s forces hirelings and slaves- i.e mercenaries and unfree people, in contrast to the free Americans talked about a whole lot elsewhere in the song (“Land of the free”, for example). It seems like approaching that as racist is sort of like a problem searching for a solution; “it has the word “slave” in it, and people held slaves in 1814 Maryland, so it MUST be racist.” , or even more convoluted stuff about Colonial Marines and free black men is also presented as evidence. That’s what Berry is all het up about; which is definitely disputed and not fact at all. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/179 "2021-06-30T20:05:04Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > What’s more likely? That somebody in power is up in the booth purposefully dealing with this, or that some local employee who may not even care about a single event there was late pushing a button? As a white man, I don’t have to care which is more likely. She doesn’t have that luxury. Maybe it’s a random mistake, maybe it’s some white supremacist shitbag who follows the sport being pissed off at the America-Hating-Bleep who represents everything wrong with sports today. And she’s supposed to just stand there and pretend it didn’t happen, not say anything or do anything to call that guy out, just take it… again. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/180 "2021-06-30T20:16:55Z")
Just my opinion that it’s much more likely there was a fuckup in the production booth than somebody deciding this black woman was being uppity for winning a bronze medal, so they decided to put their job on the line and sabotage her big moment. Remember what Uncle Cecil tells us? Be empirical. Make no assumptions. Only consider verifiable facts. To paraphrase Spock, you’re reacting out of emotion. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174/181 "2021-06-30T20:30:28Z")
As someone else wisely tweeted, racism is so ingrained into American law and culture, if you protest against racism, people think you’re protesting against America. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174.md?page=10)