Costa Rican Gymnast Luciana Alvarado Lauded for Her Olympic Performance Paying Tribute to Black Lives Matter

Costa Rican gymnast Luciana Alvarado astounded people and social media with a tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement during her Olympic performance.

Alvarado was the first gymnast to qualify for the Olympics. She finished her floor routine at the Tokyo Games by taking a knee, and placing her left hand behind her back while raising her right fist into the air, according to an NBC News report.

It was the first Olympic performance paying tribute to the movement.

Alvarado said that she does it in her routines, as well as her cousins. She added that she felt it is something that brings everyone together.

People online are applauding Alvarado's Olympic routine despite scoring a 12.166 on the floor, which did not let her move forward to the finals.

One Twitter user said that she cannot help but feel proud.

The International Olympic Committee does not allow any protests or any political messages being delivered at the Games before.

Political Protest in Olympics

Prior the games, the International Olympic Committee announced a new set of guidelines banning the participants from making any type of demonstrations during the Games.

IOC President Thomas Bach earlier said that the Olympics should not be a stage to be used for any political agenda, according to a Time report.

Bach said that their political neutrality is undermined whenever athletes use the Games to advance their own agendas despite the legitimacy of it.

Political tensions were rising mainly in the United States when the committee had announced its new guidelines.

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee had placed hammer thrower Gwen Berry and fencer Race Imboden on a year-long probation.

The two athletes were under probation after kneeling during a medal ceremony at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

Several athletes had expressed their opposition on the new guidelines, with soccer player Megan Rapinoe saying that there was so much being done about the protests.

Rapinoe said that there is little being done about people are protesting. She noted that they will not be silenced.

In 2004, Iranian world champion Arash Miresemaeili had refused to compete against Israeli judoka Ehud Vaks.

Vaks refused to fight to sympathize with the suffering of the people of Palestine.

In the past, Tommie Lee Smith and John Carlos were expelled from the 1968 Games after raising their fists on the medal podium, according to a USA Today report.

Sharon Reed said that she was very proud of Alvarado during a segment on the Black News Channel.

Reed said that Alvarado did not do the routine to support the Black people in America. Rather it was also a lesson on what happened in Costa Rica, wherein the slave trade occurred, as well as the growth of Black Jamaicans in the area.

Alvarado was also the first gymnast from Costa Rica to qualify for the Olympic Games.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by Mary Webber

WATCH: Costa Rican Gymnast Includes Black Lives Matter Tribute into Floor Routine - from BNC News