Being selected to compete in the Olympics is a huge honor for any athlete, showing the thousands of hours spent training, preparing to compete.
According to the executive vice president of Fox News, John Moody, being a minority has become more important than being the best. He complained about the “embarrassing laundry list of how many African-Americans, Asians and openly gay athletes are on this year’s U.S. team.”
In total, 2,952 athletes are competing in the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Fifteen of those athletes are openly gay, lesbian or bisexual. The United States has 242 total athletes and three gay athletes. That’s 1.2 percent of the U.S. team and 0.5 percent of all athletes competing.
Among the overarching absurdities of the column, Moody also suggests white players in the NBA should get four points for a “goal” because they are the minority in the league, and he uses Jackie Robinson in an attempt to back up his argument, saying Robinson’s motto was “Don’t complain, work harder,” even though Robinson had to endure racial abuse throughout his career.
Moody’s argument, however, is the U.S. Olympic team should look like the general population. Under what rationale would this make any sense, though?
The argument directly contradicts itself, saying the U.S. Olympic Committee selected athletes who would look good from a diversity perspective (which is not the case; this Olympic team was touted as the most diverse but was selected in order to be the best). Instead, Moody said the athletes should be selected based on what they look like, so the team’s ethnic makeup matches the general population’s makeup.
Sports and diversity don’t have any relation in terms of who is the best; it is all based on ability. In what sport are athletes selected in order to make the team look like the general population? Most teams in American leagues have players from other countries on them, so how do those athletes fit into the equation?
I am an openly gay athlete myself, running on the St. Bonaventure cross country and track teams. I have received absolute support from my coaches, teammates and the St. Bonaventure athletics department in the few incidents I have had in my three years on campus.
The only thing I had heard about gay Olympians was seeing tweets supporting U.S. figure skater Adam Rippon and freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy. This was until a friend of mine told me about Moody’s article.
Despite the outpouring of support, Moody made me upset, but also proud to be in the position I am today.
My coach offered me a spot on the team as a walk-on my freshman year. He found out I was gay during my sophomore year. Another one of my teammates is black and joined the team the same time I did. My sexual orientation and my teammate’s skin color have absolutely nothing to do with us joining the team; our running abilities, work ethics and commitments to the team were all that mattered.
Fox removed the column due to backlash, releasing a statement saying, “John Moody’s column does not reflect the views or values of Fox News.” A New York Times article about the column’s removal said Fox employees were in shock the article made it on the website. It suggests the article was published due to Moody’s seniority and working over 25 years at Fox.
Despite the hate, gay athletes from the United States and around the world came out to play (and yes, that pun was intended).
Canadian figure skater Eric Radford became the first out, gay male Olympian to win a gold medal in the team skate, also winning bronze in pair skating. Rippon took bronze in the team skate, along with Mirai Nagasu and siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani, Asian-Americans of Japanese descent, another group Moody thought was overrepresented.
Kenworthy and speed skater Brittany Bowe both competed in their events. Kenworthy qualified for the finals and finished 12th, and Bowe finished just off the podium in her three events, placing fourth in the 1,000 meters and fifth in the 500 and 1,500 meters.
The thing Moody misses is that representation matters. Seeing athletes of color competing in the Olympics under the United States flag is inspiring to young children of color.
With zero openly gay male athletes in the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL or MLS, representation at the Olympics is important for young people struggling to accept their sexuality and be comfortable coming out to others and to themselves.
Photo courtesy of olympics.nbcsports.com
