Olympic Women’s 200m Champion Gabby Thomas has apologized for offending persons who were taken were back by her not of recognizing Usain Bolt and other notable athletes black athletes in a picture challenge gone wrong amidst firestorm of backlash online.
In thread on her social media on Monday, Thomas expressed remorse in her reactions noting her feeling of embarrassment & resolve to do better going forward.
“I want to genuinely apologize to everyone I upset for not recognizing Usain Bolt in his baby photo the other day on the Olympics social media video. I shouldn’t have laughed about it either. I am so embarrassed. I promise to unpack this and will do better”
I grew up watching Usain Bolt among many other Black track athletes. They inspired me and showed my generation of athletes what Black excellence looks like (on and off the track). I know what he and Noah look like- their baby photos just stumped me. But they shouldn’t have. I would choose to be black in every lifetime 🫶🏽
“I normally wouldn’t respond, but my comments and DMs are being flooded on every social platform. I fear I really upset my community”
What was supposed to be a fun challenge of identifying athletes from infant/ baby pictures went horribly “left” immediately, as the U.S. sprinter seemingly struggled to identify the first image of Bolt, which appeared to be arguably the most obvious option.
The situation drew the ire of persons who pointed her Jamaican heritage, with her grandfather being from the island.
Things, however, went downhill as she missed other athletes like Noah Lyles, as comments asserting that she was either pretending not to recognizing the athletes or faking enthusiasm, before the rhetoric escalated to racial controversy over her quickness in spotting non-black sportspersons.
Many comments likened her response to anti-Blackness, with several users correlating the Harvard Grad’s reaction to an internalised xenophobic perception of her culture.
Despite bagging second place in a competitive 200m final at the Bolt-endorsed Ultimate Championship. Online commentary around the incident has overshadowed her performance.
