Leon Reid will be representing Ireland at the European Indoors on Friday week off and has spoken about some of the racist abuse that he receives
“The one I get the most is, ‘how can you be Irish when you’re black?'” he said at the launch of ‘Don’t Scroll By’, a new initiative by the Olympic Federation of Ireland to take a zero-tolerance approach to online hate speech.
“I had it in the hotel yesterday when I was helping some girl get some water. It’s not just online. It’s a very uneducated . That actually happened in Madrid, where I am now. It was an American athlete.
“I try not to give it too much thought. I leave them be, let them get on with themselves.
“At the hotel, I could have been like, ‘who do you think you’re talking to?’ But it’s not worth my time, it’s not worth my energy. I don’t want to send that energy out. If they want to think that and portray that then it’s up to them. That’s not what I’m about.
“I can’t educate every person I come across, or educate them in history or anything like that. I’m not going to do it anyway, it’s not my job to. I’m here to compete and I’m here to represent my county. I have the flag on my back. That’s all I can do, just worry about myself.”
We wish Leon Reid all the best on Friday week, we’ll be watching and shouting him on.