Smilla Kolbe, a 24-year-old German 800m runner, spoke publicly about racist remarks targeting some of her teammates following their participation in the European Athletics Championships semi-finals. Kolbe finished sixth in her race behind Keely Hodgkinson and used a trackside television interview to address the matter, emphasizing the disparity in treatment athletes receive based on their race.
Kolbe stated that she was grateful for supportive comments but felt compelled to highlight the harsh remarks appearing in comment sections directed at certain athletes. She noted that her visibility as a white athlete may shield her from some of the abuse others experience, and she called for greater respect from the public toward all team members.
The German Athletics Federation has taken organizational steps to address online hate speech, maintaining dedicated staff at the championships to monitor social media activity. The federation is also collaborating with the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office to identify, remove, and pursue legal action against hate speech. Similar efforts have been undertaken at other major sporting events, with the German Olympics Sports Confederation reporting that it used artificial intelligence technology to automatically remove nearly 4,000 abusive, racist, or sexist messages during the 2024 Olympics.
World Athletics has made tackling online abuse a key initiative. The governing body’s president, Sebastian Coe, oversaw a study examining 1.4 million messages sent to athletes and concluded that World Athletics was providing athletes with resources to protect themselves from online harassment. Officials have emphasized that athlete welfare remains a priority and that continued measures will be implemented to enable athletes to engage safely on social media platforms.
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