All but one US Women’s National Team player kneeled ahead of the Tokyo Olympics bronze-medal match. Off in the distance was Carli Lloyd standing as the rest of her teamamtes kneeled.
Lloyd stood with her hands on her hips as the team’s 10 other starters took a knee at Kashima Stadium on Thursday.
Throughout the women’s soccer tournament at the Tokyo Olympics, teams from around the world have kneeled before kickoff to protest racism and discrimination.
The USWNT joined in by dropping to one knee ahead of their bronze-medal game against Australia’s Matildas. Even the referees kneeled as a demonstration against inequality.
While competing at the Tokyo Olympics, all of the USWNT players stood during the anthem and their kneeling only came afterward, just before kickoff. Lloyd decided to stand anyway.
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She and Megan Rapinoe each scored two goals against Australia.
Under the new guidelines, athletes in Tokyo can take a knee or perform similar gestures as long as their actions don’t target specific people or countries and are not disruptive.
At 39-year-old, this is probably Lloyd’s final USWNT tournament, perhaps even her final appearance with the national team.
