Formula 1 champion Hamilton raises fist in fight against racism
Standing on the podium to celebrate his latest win, Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton raised a clenched right fist and then delivered a message to his fellow drivers not to slow down in the fight against racism.
It’s 52 years since American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos introduced that powerfully defiant gesture to a worldwide TV audience when standing on the podium during their medal ceremony at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
On Sunday Hamilton and the other 19 F1 drivers wore black T-shirts with “End Racism” on them, as they had done at last weekend’s seasonopening Austrian GP.
Most again took the knee on the grid before Sunday’s Styrian Grand Prix in Austria.
Others still did not and even questioned in the pre-race drivers’ briefing whether it should still be done.
“Some people were asking ‘How long do we have to continue to do this?’ Some felt like one was enough last week, and I just had to (tell) them that racism is going to be here for probably longer than our time here,” Hamilton said after winning his 85th F1 race. “People of color who are subject to racism don’t have time to (just) ‘take a moment’ to protest and that be it. We’ve got to continue to push for equality and raise awareness for it.”
Smith and Carlos were representing a country being torn apart, after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy made ‘68 one of the most turbulent years in American history. Wearing black gloves, the sprinters raised their fists in solidarity while the StarSpangled Banner played.
When Serena Williams won her seventh Wimbledon title in 2016, she proudly raised her fist in a Black Power salute at the All-England Club in 2016. That same year, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick started taking a knee to raise awareness for black athlete activism. Williams and Hamilton have both referenced the Black Lives Matter movement, which Hamilton wore on the front of his T-shirt on Sunday.
Hamilton has spoken out against racism since the death in May of George Floyd — a handcuffed and unarmed Black man — after a police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes in May. Hamilton attended a Black Lives Matter march in London and is setting up a commission to increase diversity in motorsport.
His Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas kneeled after winning last Sunday’s Austrian GP and the team has thrown its support behind Hamilton by racing in all-black cars for this season.
“As a team we’re keeping the black all year long, so we’re going to be fighting and pushing for it all year,” the 35-yearold Hamilton said. “Personally it’s going to be a lifelong thing for me.”
Major League Soccer postponed a match between Toronto FC and D.C. United shortly before it was scheduled to begin Sunday morning because of one unconfirmed positive test and one inconclusive test for the coronavirus.
The unconfirmed positive test was for a D.C. United player, while a Toronto player returned the inconclusive test. Players and staff are tested the day before each game during the MLS is Back tournament. Because of the positive and inconclusive tests, the league’s protocol for the tournament called for both teams to undergo another set of testing on Sunday.
Both teams had already announced their starting lineups for the match when it was called off shortly before its scheduled 9 a.m. EDT kickoff.
A 3-yearold filly was euthanized after completing a workout at Del Mar, the track’s first fatality of its summer racing season.
Lovely Lilia had just completed a four-furlong workout in 49.20 seconds during training hours Saturday when she was pulled up and vanned off the track. Veterinarians found that she could not recover from the unspecified injury and was euthanized.
Lovely Lilia was trained by Vladimir Cerin. She had two wins in seven career starts and earnings of $37,551, according to Equibase.
Del Mar’s summer meet opened Friday. The seaside track north of San Diego ranks among the country’s safest tracks, according to The Jockey Club’s Equine Injury Database. It had a rate of 0.62 fatal injuries per 1,000 starts last year. The national average for tracks that reported was 1.68.
The Toronto Blue Jays are shifting Vladimir Guerrero Jr. across the diamond, moving the slugger to first base from third.
Blue Jays Manager Charlie Montoyo said Guerrero feels comfortable at first and the team has Travis Shaw ready to play third. Montoyo also said Guerrero will see time as a designated hitter. He didn’t rule out that he will play some third in the future.
Guerrero hit .272 with 15 home runs and 69 RBIs in 123 games as a rookie, delivering a series of big swings en route to the finals of the All-Star Home Run Derby. He led the team with 17 errors.
The 21-year-old son of Hall of Fame outfielder Vladimir Guerrero is one of baseball’s most heralded young players. The Blue Jays asked him to drop weight and boost endurance during the off-season. He injured his left oblique muscle in spring training