St. Louis native among athletes to protest during National Anthem at Pan Am Games
LIMA, Peru (AP/KFTK) — Olympic fencing medalist Race Imboden took a knee in protest during his team's foil medal ceremony at the Pan American Games.
The American knelt during the national anthem at the medal ceremony Friday to protest racial and social injustice. He won a bronze medal in the individual men's foil event and then took gold in the team competition with Gerek Meinhardt and Nick Itkin.
The 26-year-old competed in London 2012 and Rio 2016, where he won the team bronze medal.
"Every athlete competing at the 2019 Pan American Games commits to terms of eligibility, including to refrain from demonstrations that are political in nature. In this case, Race didn't adhere to the commitment he made to the organizing committee and the USOPC," Mark Jones, Vice President of Communications, USOPC said in a statement on Saturday.
"We respect his rights to express his viewpoints, but we are disappointed that he chose not to honor his commitment. Our leadership are reviewing what consequences may result."
Also at the Pan Am Games, St. Louis native and gold-medalist for the women's hammer throw, Gwen Berry raised her right hand in a fist during the medal ceremony.
"It’s too important to not say something," Berry told USA Today. "Something has to be said. If nothing is said, nothing will be done, and nothing will be fixed, and nothing will be changed."
Both Berry and Imboden could represent the U.S. at the Tokyo Olympics in less than a year and Berry will go to the track and field world championships next month.
The USOPC released a statement on Sunday, saying they are considering consequences for the athletes.
“Every athlete competing at the 2019 Pan American Games commits to terms of eligibility, including to refrain from demonstrations that are political in nature,” the statement said. “In these cases, the athletes didn’t adhere to the commitment they made to the organizing committee and the USOPC. We respect their rights to express their viewpoints, but we are disappointed that they chose not to honor their commitment.”
