Short track speedskater Maame Biney captured the heart of many fans during the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics but called her performance “disappointing.” She finished 14th in the 500-meter race, her signature event, and 31st in the 1,500-meter race. She is in Beijing for the 2022 Olympics, and she heads in with a full head of steam.
Biney placed first in the 500m race at the U.S. Short Track Olympic Trials in December. Yet, she told The Olympian she is entering the competition in a better frame of mind than in 2018.
“I am extremely excited to go to the Games and just show the world what we all have because we all have our strengths and all we need to do is just use them,” she said. “To even be here at this point is just amazing just because, literally in the summer, I didn’t think I would. I had a really hard time just because I had an injury and stuff like that. I don’t want to put a goal and say like, ‘Oh yeah, like I want to go and medal.’ I just want to be realistic in a sense and just say, ‘No, I just want to go out there and do the best I can and just be content with it.’”
Biney said being thrust into the spotlight took a mental toll on her, and she has learned to deal with anxiety and pressure better.
In the years between Olympiads, she also learned she had a voice and views she should sharewith the world. George Floyd, a Black man, was murdered in Minneapolis by a white police officer, who stood trial and was found guilty. It had an impact on the young skater.
“At first, I didn’t want to say anything just because I felt like it was a ‘my place’ as an athlete to say anything on my social justice matters,” she said. “But then like, I don’t know it, just really hit me when George Floyd died, like that really hit me extremely hard. I was like, ‘No, this is affecting me. This is affecting every other Black person in America and really in the world.’ It’s not fair of me who has like 20-plus thousand followers on Instagram to just stay completely silent.”
Born in Ghana and raised in Reston, Va., Biney learned to skate when she was six. She saw few skaters like her as she entered competition. It did not deter her.
“Being a Black person in the skating community is definitely different,” Biney told the website Togethxr. “There’s not really anyone for me to look up to, and so I kind of had to find my own person by just doing my own thing and just not really worrying about what anyone else thought.”
Hopefully, she’ll find herself on the medal stand later this month.
The Reid Roundup
So far, not so good when it comes to the NFL and prospective Black head coaches. After Sean Payton decided to step away from New Orleans, there were nine head coaching openings in the league. Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, and the New York Giants filled their slots. None hired are Black….New Giants head coach Brian Daboll said he wants to keep Black defensive coordinator Patrick Graham if Graham does not get the open Minnesota Vikings head coaching position. I guess that is good news…Byron Leftwich still seems to be the leading candidate to take over the Jacksonville Jaguars…I love ya Patrick Mahomes, but you were awful in the second half of the Kansas City Chiefs crushing AFC Championship game loss against Cincinnati. You gave great field position to the Bengals after a pass was batted in the air by a lineman and intercepted. It led to the tying touchdown. Then, you threw into heavy coverage in overtime and the resulting interception led to your season’s end…Getting back to Black coaching candidates, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy didn’t do himself any favors with his effort, especially at the end of the first half…Aja Evans, a Black woman who competed with the Team USA women’s bobsled team in 2018, is an alternate for this year’s Games. She was selected to model Team USA’s opening ceremony fashion by designer Ralph Lauren…
