During the United States Women National Team’s Bronze medal game against Australia, all but one of the players kneeled before the game in a symbolic protest of alleged racism and discrimination, Business Insider reported.
Carli Lloyd was the sole female soccer player who did not kneel. Lloyd stood with her hands on her hips as the team’s 10 other players kneeled before the game on Thursday.
Several women’s soccer teams at the Tokyo Olympics have kneeled before the start of their games to engage in this protest as well. (RELATED: US Women’s Soccer Team Loses To Canada)
I think Carli Lloyd has spoken about why she doesn’t want to kneel during the national anthem. But I’m curious if anyone has asked her why she chose not to take a knee for a minute before kickoff along with every other American player, staff member, and referee pic.twitter.com/aI1SAehJrN
— Molly Hensley-Clancy (@mollyhc) August 5, 2021
This is not the first time Lloyd chose not to kneel with her teammates. Earlier this year, before a game against Colombia, Lloyd was seen standing for the national anthem. She explained after the match why she was one of the four players who chose not to kneel.
“I think the beauty of this team is that we stand behind each other, no matter what,” Lloyd said. “And you know, players decided to kneel, some players decided to stand, and at the end of the day, we have each other’s backs, and ultimately, we’re here to support one another in any way that we can and that’s what’s amazing about this team.”
At the game on Thursday, while the U.S. team mostly kneeled, the Australian team stood and linked arms with one another before the match started, Business Insider reported. Referees also kneeled as a symbolic demonstration.