Megan Rapinoe Responds To The 2020 Olympics' Protest Ban

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‘We Will Not Be Silenced’: Megan Rapinoe Responds To The 2020 Olympics’ Protest Ban

If we can count on anyone in the world of sports to always speak their minds, it’s Megan Rapinoe.

The International Olympics Committee announced on Thursday that it was banning political protests at the 2020 Summer Olympics. According to the IOC’s updated guidelines, participating athletes are prohibited from conducting any sort of “demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda” at any of the Olympic sites. By doing this, the committee has effectively banned Olympians from sending any sort of political message, like taking a knee or raising their fists in the air.

“We believe that the example we set by competing with the world’s best while living in harmony in Olympic Village is a uniquely positive message to send to an increasingly divided world,” the governing body explained. “This is why it is important, on both a personal and global level, that we keep the venues, the Olympic Village, and the podium neutral and free from any form of political, religious or ethnic demonstrations.”

Rapinoe, who’s known for being outspoken, wasn’t happy with the policy change and of course, she made sure to let the International Olympics Committee know exactly how she felt.

“So much being done about the protests. So little being done about what we are protesting about. We will not be silenced,” she wrote in an Instagram story over a photo of fists raising the Olympic rings.

Megan Rapinoe was among the several professional athletes who took part in the #TakeaKnee movement, following in the footsteps of Colin Kaepernick. She’s also been a vocal critic of Donald Trump, specifically criticizing the regressiveness of his “Make America Great Again” slogan.

The XXXII Olympic Summer Games are set to kick off on July 24 in Tokyo. That’s when we’ll find out whether or not this ban on political protests works…or just causes even more Olympians to make a statement.