Black people from all over the world are all up in arms against silver medalist Cindy Roleder of Germany. The athlete was caught on camera brushing aside the gold medalist from Jamaica, Shermaine Williams who had gone on to congratulate her. This was after their IAAF World Championships 100-metre Hurdles final in Beijing, China.
The German quickly slapped aside the Jamaican’s hand in favor of hugging Belarus’ Alina Talay. An act that has been viewed as racist’ with people all over the world blasting her for this.
Not limiting it to racism, it could just sour grapes- she could have just been jealous she did not get the gold herself but that still does not exonerate her because it goes against the principles of sportsmanship. These world championships serve to enhance cohesion and integration among different cultures, such an act goes against that.
Following the outrage over her supposed racist action, Roleder took to Facebook to apologize and explain herself:
” After I had realized that I won the silver medal in the 100m hurdles at the World Championships in Beijing, yesterday, I was extremely – it was such a massive surprise to me. Today I read in several Facebook posts and comments that people have been disappointed or even shocked because of the way I reacted to Shermaine Williams’ offer of a handshake afterwards, accusing me of refusing it.
“This is a big misunderstanding. I would like to set the record straight: I simply haven’t noticed her in this overwhelming moment. I have seen the TV footage, and to be honest it doesn’t look very good. But again, this is a big misunderstanding.
“As the pictures also show, I was completely focused on congratulating my friend Alina Talay on her bronze medal. I congratulate Shermaine Williams and all the other athletes who have participated in this great final. I hope you accept my apology. Best regards, Cindy.”
Joe Black
