Ana Peleteiro is having a dream end of the year. She didn’t have it all, but after becoming her mother and celebrating her wedding with fellow athlete Benjamín Campaoré, the Olympic medalist has returned to athletics in style and with a clear goal: to become world champion.
The Galician is immersed in her training for her return to the slopes, but she took a moment to appear as a guest on Laura Escanes’ podcast, Between the sky and the clouds. A talk between friends that ended in controversy because of some comments from the Olympic medalist, who made a joke about racism in the world of athletics that did not sit well with her.
The athlete sat down for the interview, where the Catalan influencer asked her if she suffers from racism in the world of sports, a topic that has caused a lot of talk lately in other disciplines such as football. Peleteiro, faithful to his style and without mincing words, confessed that nothing further.
“No,” he said, explaining that he did not suffer racism in his sport. “In athletics, blacks run more. So, in athletics, blacks are cool,” he stated. The athlete went further, explaining that in her sports discipline, it was white-skinned athletes who “dressed as black.”
Peleteiro was humorous, with a joke that has not sat well with many: “The poor little white guy who runs 100 meters is like, ‘honey, no. Don’t come.'”
Peleteiro continued explaining his opinion, joking aside. “In athletics there is no racism,” he insisted. Of course, with an appreciation, and that is that the athlete did recognize that there could be “classism.”
“If you are American or from Burkina Faso, if someone from Burkina Faso comes and beats the second one by 200 meters, then the entire stadium, 70,000 people, the wave will make him. It doesn’t matter what color you are, what religion or what country you are.” , term.
Even so, his comments were highly criticized by users of the social network, who did not hesitate to comment on his words. “The poor little white man?? You should see some white man say: ‘the poor little black man’, neither one thing nor the other,” said one. “Someone tell her that racism is not just about ‘blacks’, racism is also how she talks about ‘whites,'” another insists.
It must be said that the athlete also had someone who supported her from social networks. “I think she has spoken a truth like a temple,” says one. “It’s not racism, it’s a matter of genetics, evolution and adaptation of the human being. Black people are better at athletics. Period,” adds another.
Be that as it may, Peleteiro did make it clear that she is fulfilling all her dreams, because since she was very little she wanted to be a medalist and Olympic champion. According to the athlete, her father saw from the time she was just a baby that she had talent for athletics, and from that moment, she saw her future clearly. Years later, she is one of the most important athletes in our country, and she goes for it.
