On December 12th, 2022, it was announced that the lifetime Olympic ban for 1972 Olympic 400m Champion Vincent Matthews would be lifted and removed. This came over 50 years after Matthews and silver medalist Wayne Collett, silently protested on the podium at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich in support of racial justice in the United States.
A letter was sent from the International Olympic Committee to Vince Matthews and his family, noting that he would now be allowed to attend any future Olympic Games. This comes on the heels of Matthews 76th birthday, and 12 years after Collett unfortunately passed away due to cancer in 2010.
Though this reversal is the right thing to do and overdue, there is still much more that needs to be done considering the unfair consequences Matthews and Collett faced for simply standing up for the Black community some 5 decades ago.
A bit of history on their story, at the 1972 Munich Olympics, Matthews and Collett finished first and second, respectively, in the Men's 400m Dash. Their teammate John Smith was also in the final, but an injury prevented him from completing the race. Shortly after the final, the medal ceremony was held on the infield, and when the US National anthem played, both Matthews and Collett chose to silently protest.
Four years earlier, at the 1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos of the USA also protested on the medal stand after winning Gold and Bronze, respectively, in the 200m dash. They famously wore black leather gloves and held up their fists as the National Anthem played. This time, Matthews and Collett were a bit more subtle, but wanted to convey a similar message in recognition and support for civil rights and the wrongs the United States has done in the treatment of Black people.
As the National Anthem played, Collett stepped up to the top of the podium where Matthews was, and instead of facing the flag or singing the anthem, they both just looked around, fidgeted a bit, and simply ignored the music. Once the anthem was over, they both just casually walked off the podium and waved to the crowd.
After the ceremony, the media and IOC caught wind of what occurred, and IOC President Avery Brundage, the same person who had banned both Smith and Carlos in 1968, proceeded to now ban Matthews and Collett. They were not only banned from the remainder of the 1972 Games, eliminating any chance of winning a medal in the 4x400m relay, but also completely banned from participating in any future Olympics.
At the time Matthews was 24 and Collett was 22, so they both had many years to continue competing and very likely could have ran at the 1976 Games.
But now 50 years later, their ban was lifted. Again Collett, has passed on and Matthews is in his 70s, so neither truly has the opportunity to have received a proper apology for how they were wronged.
Though lifting the ban is a step in the right direction, the overall principle of the situation is a still a bit more nuanced. To this day, athletes like Tommie Smith, John Carlos, and others, are celebrated by the International Olympic Committee for their bravery, representation, struggle, and courage they put forth for their protests for racial injustice and human rights. But they still maintain rules on the books that, if an athlete were to protest or demonstrate at the Olympics in a similar manner to Smith, Carlos, Collett or Matthews on the medal stand at they would still be banned.
The goal of these organizations, not only the IOC, should be to not only issue apologies and reverse the bans of these athletes, but they should look to truly and completely right the wrongs done decades ago by leaders who had negative, stereotypical and racist views of Black athletes. That would include, upending structures that still dont allow athletes to represent themselves, who they are and what they believe in.
Though Matthews rightfully had his ban reversed, there is still a lot more to be done to right the wrongs that Matthews, Collett, Smith, Carlos and others have faced in in the past.
