During the 1968 Mexico Olympics , two African American male, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, silently protested against racial discrimination after their 200 meters run. For the time of their victory ceremony, as the American National Anthem started playing they bowed their heads and while wearing black gloves, they raised one of their hands over their head creating a fist to symbolize black power and unity. Smith raised his right fist and Carlos raised his left and they both wore black socks with no shoes on to show poverty in America. They were booed by the crowed after the ceremony and later that day kicked of their teams and sent back home. some people praised them for their courageous and heroic act but some were mad because they viewed their act as creating trouble for them.
Connecting this event to one of Sage & Eitzen's 5 political uses of sport, this event connects with the use of Olympics as a site of political demonstration and violence. Smith and Carlos exemplifies the use of sport and politics being related. They showed resistance against racism with the help of the Olympics. Therefore, I am in disagreement with the following statement "Sport is pure and devoid of political interference" because there's always some kind of political connections to sport; with this event being a prime example.
Refrences:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/mar/30/black-power-salute-1968-olympics
Eitzen & Sage, Sport and Politics chapter 9
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