GOOD
TROUBLE
“You don’t just get in trouble for doing something bad or wrong, you can also get in trouble because you stand up for ideas and principles that challenge people in power. You can get in trouble for exposing the lies and hypocrisy of those who claim they have your best interests at heart. You can earn the anger reserved for those who have ideas that are so far ahead that people don’t realize that what you are doing until years later.”
John Carlos
Athletes are uniquely positioned to speak out on human rights issues. Sports transcend politics They require fair play and and a level playing field. Two often, rules and ethical standards are broken and this must be addressed.
For example:
Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles met head to head in the 2025 USAFT National Championship. A very unfortunate incident occured that needed to be called out for what it was: Taunting. Noah Lyles looked over to taunt Kenny Bednarek before they crossed the finish line, continued the taunt through the finish line and crossed over into Kenny’s path still taunting. Whatever history there may be, whatever happened off or on the track before this incident does not matter. This behavior is not allowed. It should never happen. It must never be tolerated. It clearly did happen and at the very least, Adidas should have acknowledge that it did, that they do not support it and therefore would not pay Noah his bonus for the win. The USFTA should make a similar statement. Noah should have apologized publicly. If Noah wanted to properly redeem himself he should have, publicly, hand his gold medal to Kenny and withdrawn from the 200. He should only have run the 100, where he conducted himself honorably. There is plenty of glory to be won there. As for the relay, what do you think should have happened?
Mind you, we love Noah, but we must hold our champions to the very highest standards, as they, too, must hold themselves.
