US athlete expelled for protesting racism… lottery after 50 years

After 50 years, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) lifted the ban on US track and field athlete Vince Matthews from permanent Olympic ban at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Matthews, who had already retired from active duty at the age of 75, was belatedly restored to his honor.

According to the Associated Press on the 13th (Korean time), the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) said it had received a letter from the IOC allowing Matthews to participate in future Olympic events.

Matthews, along with his colleague Wayne Collett, who died earlier in 2010, won a gold medal in the men’s 400m final at the Munich Olympics. At the time, Collette was awarded a silver medal.

However, the IOC took issue with the fact that the two players took a ‘smokin’ attitude while the US national anthem was playing during the award ceremony.

At that moment, Collette put her hands on her hips, and Matthews stroked his beard, crossed his arms, and stood on his other leg. Also, Matthews even twirled his medal as he came down from the podium. The spectators booed and criticized those who left the stadium after the awards ceremony.

Collette and Matthews explained their actions the day after the ceremony. Collette said, “For the past six or seven years, when the national anthem was played, I took the 메이저놀이터 posture (immobility), but when I saw what was happening in my country, I couldn’t do that anymore with a good conscience.” It is said that his actions were intended to criticize racism. Matthews agrees, saying, “People who stand still expect us to do the same and forget what’s going on around us,” stressing that “that’s impossible.” Collette and Matthew were both black players.

However, then-IOC President Avery Brundage permanently expelled both athletes from the Olympics. Chairman Brundage, who was from the same U.S. as the two players, strongly criticized, saying, “The world watched the two players’ disgusting expressions when awarding medals at the ceremony.”

Matthews, who had refused to be interviewed by the media for a while, expressed his feelings about the IOC’s reinstatement decision. “My Olympics ended 50 years ago, and I’ve been working hard for decades to move forward,” he said in an email exchange with a reporter for NBC Sports. “‘If you’re no longer interested in looking back, you can I have lived by the words ‘doing the right thing’.”

He said, “The right thing in my life now is to look to the future and move on, not to look back on the past.”

On the other hand, the issue of ‘political expression of opinion in the Olympics’ that Matthews and Collette sparked is still controversial.

During the Tokyo Summer Olympics last year, the IOC allowed athletes to express their views to the media in a joint coverage area (Mixed Zone), or to express their views at official press conferences and social media channels. However, the ban on expressing political views during the national anthem or on the podium remains, and violations can result in disciplinary action.