Let’s talk about "politics has no place in sport”.
We hear this a lot.
Who knows what the origin is? Where did it come from?
I have the answer.
Avery Brundage – United States Olympic Committee President.
1936.
Arguing in support of the Olympics being held in Nazi Germany.

This phrase people throw around all the time? Whenever politics and sports interetwine? It came about because the US was supporting holding the Olympics in Nazi Germany.
Should they have supported that? No. They should have taken a stand. They should’ve boycotted those games.

That should’ve been an EXTREMELY easy position for them to take.
But, no. They decided that politics don’t belong in sports and legitimized the Nazi regime. And they handed people a slogan to use every time athletes stand up for what they believe in.
That was a mistake.

Politics and sports are inextricably linked. They have always been entwined and always will be. From the days of segregation to the USWNT fighting for fair pay to Kaepernick kneeling to now and everything in between.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos giving black power salutes on the podium during the national anthem, October 16, 1968.