‘All black podium’

[BWPodium]

In Simone Bile’s interview she said ‘it’s an all black podium for the first time, which is super exciting’

Whats your thoughts on this? Is it ok / positive thing to say? Unneeded? etc

I understand this is a first for woman’s gymnastics and a few years ago the sport was built around what looked like under fed teenagers so brilliant for the sport that it’s opened up to other body types and therefore makes a positive however, what about sports like 100m sprint that has traditionally always been tall African builds, if by any miracle three white men were on the podium, would saying this be acceptable?

Read what I wrote again. Even in the 100m, for most of history, it has been dominated by wealthy nations, predominantly people with white skin. For most other sports the podium is still all white.

I don't think I have made a wrong assumption about 'rich podiums' look at the medal tables. I wonder what they would look like if weighted by population as well.
I fairness to the Olympics though, they are doing much better to get brilliant athletes from poorer nations on those podiums.

Agree with posters saying it’s about success. Gymnastics is white/asian dominated and black athletes are very unrepresented.

Multiple black role models is better than just one plus I respect athletes who celebrate the successes of other countries as well as their own. I’d imagine that Brazil is very proud that Rebeca Andrade beat Biles to the gold.

I think three white men winning 100m sprint would be very unusual (I haven’t researched to know if it’s ever happened), write home about, I don’t know. I guess that’s my question but would be unusual for sure.

Sorry to repeat myself, but Simone herself has been subjected to direct, overt racism. A fellow competitor suggesting she might cover herself in black paint, in order to win!

To Simone, this isn’t rhetoric. It’s personal.

Indeed. She's made me interested in gymnastics. She is quite a remarkable athlete and inspirational on many levels.

No problem at all with what SB said especially in light of background which PPs have commented on - these women are totally inspirational.

Hopefully we be able to say “great to see all females on the podium for a female category sport” but sadly I doubt it.

OP, would you have the same issue if 3 brown women were on the podium for any sport and one of them made the comment?

Absolutely agree re age, along with body shape has changed.

I'm obviously very pleased for Simone Biles success and even more so when I read about the tough childhood she endured. A lot of folk wouldn't have overcome what she did.

However...why aren't all races being held to the same standard? Lots of different groups in society have had disadvantages, you can't say "oh you've had it harder so you can say this but you can't."

People will twist themselves in knots to deny that there isn’t appropriate representation of other races.
Oh but the men’s 100m!
But almost every other sport is predominately white.
There’s nothing offensive about a black person passing comment on a sport diversifying.

Representation is important.

If Children / Young people, can see that someone with characteristics like theirs, can do something, maybe they can too.

This goes for Colour, Sex, Disability etc

@WorriedMama12 what do you mean, "why aren't all races held to the same standard"?

Because all races are not treated the same way. White footballers don't have bananas thrown on the pitch.

And once again, the entire world revolves around Black Vs white - no other skin colour exists.
The Chinese have a strong presence in gymnastics so no, all white not the norm. There are other sports dominated by people from certain countries , not all of them white. I guess they don't count

As @Kendodd said, 'all rich podium'. No we're not talking about the athlete themselves, but their countries' sports funding and programmes.

Fair enough for Simone Biles to be delighted that Team USA is so diverse + won. But unless she's saying that somehow, majority Black countries should prioritise gymnastics.

Then, regardless of their skin colour, all she is really saying is well.... It's Team USA again. No matter their skin colour, they're all American.

Here's a thought experiment. Would it be a good thing, if one country swept all the medals - but the athletes themselves were all Black?

Or, if there were multiple countries, but not all of them with a sizeable Black population. So many poor countries across Asia and South America as well.

For the record I'm South Asian with Black ancestry (grandparent and great grandparent on different sides).

Sports is about money, make no mistakes, but on a global stage like the Olympics where the competitors are actual other African countries it's silly to talk about the US sweeping medals as a symbol of equality and opportunity. For Black Americans maybe but not anybody else.

Agree though r.e. racism, body type etc and I love Simone Biles, she's one of my heroines. I just think If we're talking about equality and opportunity on the world stage, there's a lot more nuance.

This. When Simone started out in the sport there were hardly any black elite gymnasts; it was dominated by white and Asian athletes on both the men's and women's sides. Similarly, it's important to celebrate all black medals in the pool, equestrian etc..., where there there are still very few elite competitors statistically.

In general, the last three to four Olympic cycles, gymnastics has become much more diverse, and it's important to recognise and celebrate. For example, seeing the impact the Rio Games seemed to have on South American athletes in particular has been amazing - not just the rise of the Brazilian team on the lead up and since the Rio games, but at this Games, a medal for Colombia, representation from Paraguay - it's been heartening to see in a sport that has been so traditionally dominated by Europe, USA, China, Japan.

The role modelling is so important.

On this specific podium, all three of these women are amazing; they have all had difficult upbringings and they and their families have had to make a lot of sacrifices that their competitors from wealthier backgrounds have not had to.

I think it's important to note that some of Simone's messages this week about her "black job" and the "black podium" have also been a subtle response to what is happening in the US, and to the regressive messaging Republicans are putting out in relation to Kamala Harris's nomination. Simone is using her platform very intentionally to elevate the success of black women and good on her!

I've been watching the canoeing, rowing and equestrian events. Guess what kind of people dominate on those podiums?
Simone was noting the success of black women. That is all.

This

I’m not anything. I was hoping for an adult discussion and debate.

How is this different from commenting that it's exciting that Kamala Harris is the first black woman nominee for president from one of the two major US political parties? Do you find that questionable too?

If white people had faced consistent barriers to success in a particular sport then "wow, an all white podium!" would be great.
But they haven't. So it isn't.

It would have been an odd thing to say if she was a sprinter, because black athletes have dominated sprint events for a long time, but until relatively recently gymnastics was a predominantly white sport without much representation of black women at all. So absolutely an all-black podium is a positive thing for gymnastics and for encouraging more black girls to try a sport they might have once felt excluded from.

There is an added nuance with gymnastics because at one time, standards and judging were very much skewed towards women/girls with certain body types - very thin, flat-chested and without much in the way of hips and bum (hence the success of child competitors in the 70s and 80s). Someone with the shape and muscle tone of today’s gymnasts would have been sneered at by the judges at one time. This meant that girls of some black ethnicities were more likely to be at a disadvantage.

God forbid a black woman comment positively on black excellence. Definitely something for you to make huffy insinuations of racism about 🙄🙄🙄