Swimming while Black and dribbling while breastfeeding
A marathon swimmer in this summer’s Tokyo Olympics was told her swim cap didn’t meet regulations. A brand sold by a British company, Soul Cap is extra-large and designed to protect natural thick and curly Black hair. The world sport’s governing body refused to officially recognize the cap, saying it failed to meet Olympic criteria by not following “the natural form of the head.”
Did they read their own official Olympic games website extolling as commitment to diversity and inclusion regardless of age, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief or intellectual or physical impairment. Sounds like they had it covered! But the ‘thick curly hair’ curveball really threw them. Faced with outrage, the ruling body took a second look at the cap.
Also in lead-up to the Olympics, Canadian basketball player Kim Gaucher said the Olympic game’s rules would force her to “decide between being a breastfeeding mom or an Olympic athlete.” Tokyo organizers move quickly to revise the rule to allow Olympians to bring newborns to the Games.
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