老澳门开奖结果

Every four years, the Olympic Games showcase the best of the best. Athletes defy odds, break records, and achieve unimaginable feats. But this year, the games have consistently made headlines for the wrong reasons, particularly for the mistreatment and discrimination of Black women athletes. From Sha鈥機arri Richardson鈥檚 pre-Olympic suspension for smoking legal marijuana to the International Swimming Federation鈥檚 ban on swim caps designed for natural Black hair, Black women are the common denominator in many of these stories. These rigid stipulations speak to the rampant racism and misogyny within the athletic world that directly impacts how Black women perform on the playing field 鈥� or if they even have a spot on the field at all.

Namibian runners Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi were barred from competing in this year鈥檚 women鈥檚 400 meter race because of their natural testosterone levels, due to what has been referred to as the 鈥淐aster Semenya Rule.鈥� Caster Semenya is a Black South African runner who was initially banned from running after the World Athletics governing body issued new rules in 2018 governing maximum testosterone levels to compete in certain races. Semenya was subjected to invasive gender verification testing and blood tests to determine her natural testosterone levels. Under the rules, Semenya and other women athletes who refuse to take medication to lower their naturally occurring testosterone levels are banned from competing in the 400 meter to 1 mile races. The idea that an athlete should conform to a testosterone level to compete is antithetical to how the Olympics celebrate exceptional levels of human achievement. Yet these notions are weaponized against Black women, who are told they鈥檙e 鈥渘ot woman enough鈥� to compete.

Mental health has also been at the forefront of this year鈥檚 Olympics, specifically the disregard towards the mental health and wellbeing of Black women athletes. Athletes like Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles faced backlash for choosing to prioritize their mental health and protect their bodies first, even when no one else was willing to do so for them. Preceding her participation in this year鈥檚 Olympics, Osaka withdrew from Wimbledon to focus on her mental health, and Biles said she needed to take a step back from the Olympics for similar reasons.

Despite the many challenges Black women athletes face in the Olympics and beyond, there is hope in the fact that they鈥檙e speaking up, sharing their stories, and actively challenging these discriminatory rules and standards.

On this week鈥檚 episode of At Liberty, Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Rights Project, discusses the various obstacles Black women athletes face in the Olympics both on and off the field, and how Black women across the country are making clear that they will no longer be pushed off the podium.