Most of the women's elite field at the U.S. Pro Road Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee, took a knee during the singing of the U.S. National Anthem this evening to protest the abortion ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court earlier in the day.
Following the time trial races on Thursday, criterium racers got their chance to vie for the Stars and Stripes on Friday evening. After a day off, the road race championships will complete the championships on Sunday.
"Everyone in Knoxville, TN for the US National Championships, we're organizing a moment of solidarity for the overturning of Roe v Wade this morning. Plan is to take a knee during the national anthem. Spread the word," Alexis Ryan (L39ion of Los Angeles) wrote.
Like the rest of America, Knoxville woke up this morning to the news that the U.S. Supreme Court had overturned the Roe v. Wade case, a 50-year-old law that granted women the right to abortion in the U.S.
This morning's ruling put an abortion ban into effect immediate across of the United States. "The National Championship is a symbol of patriotism.
And it was obviously a really tragic moment for women in this country what happened today. I think as athletes, we are role models to younger women, but we are also role models to the entire world, and I think it's important for us to speak our minds and make a statement with what we're doing here.
This is the biggest [cycling] event in the United States all year long so to make a statement, to stand behind something that most of us believe in is, I think, really important," Ryan told Cycling Weekly.
Taking a knee during the singing of the U.S. National Anthem is a gesture copied from American football player Colin Kaepernick who chose to kneel during the playing of the anthem back in 2016 to raise awareness to the issues of racial inequality and police brutality.
Many athletes across different sports have since continued this gesture as means of showing solidarity. It's a controversial act that has become widely known as "taking a knee" or "taking the knee."
But not all riders were keen to make such a bold statement, and chose to stay standing, hand over heart as the singer finished the song.