The fact that there is a whole two page thread about something that Tobi literally never said and that everyone decided to believe with zero proofs uncovers who the real racists are.
The fact that there is a whole two page thread about something that Tobi literally never said and that everyone decided to believe with zero proofs uncovers who the real racists are.
People are saying that most people who start and sustain these controversial threads in Let's run are ex-Storm front ex-KKK dues paying members who have finally found a site that allows them channel deep racial hatred towards 'other' athletes and freely and shamelessly propagate racial and confirmation basis.
It is the only pending task they wake up to every morning.. What a life!
Irish reporter Cathay Dennehy asked Tobi Amusan for details on her wherabouts failure in the mix zone at WC’s. She refused to answer him and then muttered, “this white motherf**”.
Should World Athletics address her racist comments as not acceptable and suspend her for a period?
Time for some objectivity - here are some facts from all angles of this situation:
1. The role of AIU's botched process in Tobi Amusan's case
AIU has unfortunately created an environment where reporters like Cathal Dennehy can continue to treat Tobi as if she's guilty even though she has already been cleared. AIU's confidential report on why/how she was cleared hasn't been released and all reporters including Mr. Dennehy know this, but he has been on a year long vendetta to de-legitimize her World Record and bring her down at every opportunity. AIU's Head Brett Clothier saying he is disappointed with the ruling to clear her effectively sends the signal that they believe she should still be presumed guilty even though she's been cleared, and this has empowered folks like Mr. Dennehy to continue their bullying and harassment of Amusan under the veil of asking hard questions. also doesn't help matters - one has to wonder how much the report might implicate AIU in what may end up looking like the unfair suspension of an athlete who should never have been, thus (a) destroying her chances to prepare for the World Champs, (b) causing irreparable damage to her reputation and now (c) creating enough uncertainty in the past week to allow her to be baited into forced errors due to her unpreparedness to face folks like Cathal in the mixed zone...
David Howman, chair of the Athletics Integrity Unity, says they've not yet decided whether to appeal the decision that cleared Tobi Amusan, who'd been charged with 3 whereabouts failures.
Says the report will likely be published tomorrow. She races the 100m hurdles heats tonight pic.twitter.com/7bTP1CjzTd
2. The role of journalists like Mr. Dennehy in biased reporting in Athletics
Mr. Dennehy has been at the forefront of trying to de-legitimize Tobi Amusan's World Record since last year. He started with asking about the shoes she wore to set the World Record, and since then has taken every opportunity possible to question her integrity. Of course her suspension must have been a field day for folks like him, but now that she's been cleared, the biased nature of his reporting on Tobi is now coming into full view... - he opens the story by calling her angry and continues a complete attack on her character because she refused to answer his questions, even though he knows that no athlete is obliged to answer any reporter's question, let alone one whom the AIU is still actively looking for ways to suspend. - not only does he use this story to continue his consistent character assassination of Tobi under the guise of asking tough questions, he uses it to highlight the backlash he has received from Nigerian fans and also dragged black reporters in Budapest into his story, taunting them on Twitter by calling them 'fans with typewriters' because they don't agree with his views or approach on Amusan. is taking a rather nasty turn that is frankly making him look more like a stalker than a reporter, and it's now inflaming racial tensions with fans and his colleagues in the media whom he also clearly doesn't think very highly of.
We are calling on @WorldAthletics and @aiu_athletics for an immediate and urgent review of the ethical and professional standards required for accrediting journalists at all global competitions, following the continued egocentric and slanderous attacks filled with racial bias by… https://t.co/NJylwtRZ40
Why are you so obsessed with her??. Maybe eat some sugar so you can have some sweetness and happiness in your miserable life. pic.twitter.com/elYJS346zq
3. Tobi Amusan's lack of preparedness in answering the 'tough questions'
Frankly, Tobi should have been better prepared as to how to answer any questions on her case in the mixed zone, though I think it is somewhat understandable that she didn't have much time to think and plan how she would do such, considering she was only cleared to compete a week before. That said, she is a World Record Holder whose handlers and PR team should have been far more prepared for all of this. All she needed to say was "The AIU report is still confidential and I would prefer not to comment on my case until it has been released". If she doesn't have a team around her that can do this for her, then she needs to fix that, or she will not survive the continued scrutiny that her status will always attract. Perhaps she unwisely thought that if the AIU's report was still confidential (perhaps for legal reasons?) then she would also not be required to say anything on that for now? World Athletics and AIU should have provided much better protection for her, but how can they when AIU is disappointed that they lost the case and are still going after her? If they can't speak on it yet, they could have also told reporters not to ask her about it, but why would they, since it plays into their narrative for reporters like Mr. Dennehy to continue attacking her into making the kind of errors that she has this week. , which obviously can never be condoned and shows her complete lack of preparedness to handle such questions, but isn't it sad that even here we're going straight to questioning whether she should be banned for racism, when the AIU and journalists like Mr. Dennehy have all played a part in dismantling the character and psyche of an Athlete who for now they do not have any case against when it comes to doping (never failed a test) or even a whereabouts failure now (rumor has it that 2 of the 3 'missed tests' have been thrown out, but until AIU release the report, the complete assassination of Amusan's reputation has been allowed to continue unabated). The damage is really incalculable, but folks like Mr. Dennehy seem to treat 'Athletes like her' as not deserving of any form of respect or basic human decency. Positioning him as a victim in this case is laughable, when in fact it would seem that Amusan is actually the victim of structural and systemic racial bias in the sport, which can't change if we continue down this road of painting the Black African girl as the villain without all of the context outlined above - now that we can't prove she's a cheat, let's ban her for racism?
There's a lot a stake with Tobi Amusan's case - it has a very big potential to be a huge stain on World Athletics and the AIU particularly. AIU knows that if they can't or don't successfully appeal the decision, there may be calls for reform based on the way Amusan's case has been handled. The one-sided nature of this thread, calling for Amusan to be banned and portraying Mr. Dennehy as a victim also highlights how much work needs to be done for more diversity at the highest levels of the sport (no offense to the poster, it's more to do with the fact that there aren't enough people in Athletics currently to care enough about Athletes like Amusan being treated fairly and to spend this much time talking about it). When folks like Mr. Dennehy continue to control the narrative in the sport without actual fairness and no other voices to tell the other side of such stories, this is the result you get. The AIU Head talked about Amusan's acquittal setting a bad precedent, but it seems that a far more dangerous precedent is being set - the consistent targeting and harassment of certain folks who people like Mr. Dennehy just can't accept can also be World Record Holders, and may also actually be clean athletes, despite what their hidden biases are telling them. It's also interesting that Nigeria has a very bad rep in the sport when it comes to doping, but Amusan is also their first ever World Record Holder, and the message they will see from this case is that people from certain countries aren't meant to be World Record Holders and must be taken down by any means necessary. Not a good look for Athletics at all.
Irish reporter Cathay Dennehy asked Tobi Amusan for details on her wherabouts failure in the mix zone at WC’s. She refused to answer him and then muttered, “this white motherf**”.
Should World Athletics address her racist comments as not acceptable and suspend her for a period?
A Nigerian spokesperson on behalf of Amusan emphatically said that some of her best friends are white.
You wrote a ten-thousand word essay to justify hate speech. Well done. The mental acrobatics that people will go through. Do you think if Femke Bol misses 3 tests between now and Paris, that it won't set off massive alarms and people won't have the same energy for her in the mixed zone if she gets a pass? Do you really think that everyone just can't stand to see a black African girl as a world record holder? If that tracks, then I guess we're all supposed to hate Faith Kipyegon just the same. Pretty sure everyone loves Faith Kipyegon, and guess what, she's a black African girl. Or is it because Tobi Amusan missed 3 tests, got a pass, and said "these white mfs"? Say what you want about irresponsible journalism, but stop trying to pass off hate speech as being misunderstood.