Carli Lloyd, a former midfielder for the United States Women’s Soccer Team, has never been one to shy away from controversy or creating headlines through her outspoken political opinions.
Lloyd did just that at the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo, which were moved to 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, when she refused to join her teammates in kneeling during the national anthem before their bronze-winning game against Australia.
Speaking on CBS Sports’ Kickin It, Lloyd revealed her thinking into the controversial decision not to participate in the common form of protest in the wake of George Floyd’s death in 2020.
Lloyd said it was “beginning to feel like a thing to do” and didn’t change anything on the grand scale of things.
"I just felt that we had done enough of the kneeling and I just wanted to stand for my last World Championship game."
On tonight's episode of Kickin' It, @kate_abdo asks Carli Lloyd about her decision not to kneel in at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. pic.twitter.com/juefQnbviD
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 18, 2023
“I just felt like I had done it five other times and I just wanted to stand for this one,” Lloyd said.
“That was it, there was like no other thought or anything. … I just thought that we had done enough of the kneeling and I just wanted to stand for my last world championship game.”
Lloyd went on to say that “there is no perfect nation” and that she views every person as a “human being.”
