April 17, 2025: Kyle Contexts: Track & Field Fighters

[Thisweek, my amazing younger son Kyle turns 18! So I wanted to dedicate the week’sblog series to AmericanStudying some Kyle Contexts, leading up to a repeat ofhis excellent Guest Post on the OJ Simpson trial.]

In honorof a track career which has faced way more than its share of setbacks (from allof which Kyle has bounced back and then some), quick hits on five moments whentrack & field stars fought the good fight.

1)     Jim Thorpe: Being aNative American athlete brought up on a reservation who became known as the greatestAmerican athlete of the 20th century would be more than enoughto earn Jim Thorpe a spot on this list, as would his genuine successes at morethan a few distinct sports. But for a post on track & field fielders, I’ll highlightthe story—hard to confirm, but I’m very willing to believe it—that thereason Thorpe is wearing two different shoes in picturesfrom the 1912 Olympics is that his were stolen and so he found two mismatchedones in the trash and wore them when he set hugelylongstanding records in the decathlon.

2)     BabeDidrikson Zaharias: I wrote about Zaharias’s Olympic track & fieldachievements at the 1932 Games(when she was known as Babe Didrikson), among many other inspiring layers toher sports successes, in that hyperlinked post. Her fight was against the kindof sexism that led sportswriter Joe Williamsto write, as I noted in that post, that “it would be much better if she andher ilk stayed at home, got themselves prettied up, and waited for the phone toring.” Don’t hold your breath, Joe.

3)     JesseOwens: I don’t know that I can detail Owens’s track & field fights,triumphs, and tragedies any more clearly than I did in that hyperlinked SaturdayEvening Post Considering History column. Check it out and c’mon back!

4)     MexicoCity: Like many other commentators have over the last decade, in thathyperlinked post I linked Tommie Smith and John Carlos’s 1968Black Power protest to Colin Kaepernick’s 2016 anthem protests. But while Istand by that comparison, it’s important that we not minimize how much moredanger Smith and Carlos were putting themselves in—Kaepernick has faced countlessconsequences for his courageous stand, but in 1968 (as throughout the decade) AfricanAmerican leaders were being murdered left and right by white supremacistdomestic terrorists. There are few braver protests in our history.

5)     Caster Semenya: Semenya’sstory is far more multilayered than I can do justice to in this brief space, butthe simple and crucial fact is this: due to aspects of her specific human body,ones that are no different from MichaelPhelps’s extra-long wingspan or any number of other quirks possessed bygreat athletes, Semenya has been targeted time and again by both transphobichate and official sanctions. That she has consistently fought back andcontinued to compete and to do so at the highest level makes her a fighter anytrack & field athlete, and any human for that matter, should be inspiredby.

Lastcontext tomorrow,

Ben

PS. Lemmeknow any bday wishes I can pass along to my not-so-young man!