Sometimes, the influence of athletes extends beyond the athletics track, a reality well experienced by Kounta. Following a series of inflammatory comments on social media, he has faced the harsh reality that his words can have a significant impact on his reputation and career.

This is why even the most influential voices must be mindful of their societal power. Their words can have a much broader reach than they might imagine. The French Minister of Sport, Amélie Oudea-Castera, confirmed on X that the president of the French Athletics Federation (FFA) “would sanction the athlete, after consulting with the prosecutor and the federation’s disciplinary committee.”

The minister did not hold back in condemning the athlete, labelling the posts of the current national 400-metre champion on X, particularly those targeting the Israeli and Jewish communities, as "both shocking and unacceptable."

In the face of a deluge of criticism, and as the controversy snowballed, the messages were quickly deleted, and Kounta opted to extinguish the fire by suspending his X account. However, hours later, he reactivated it to drop a bitter, wrapped-in-resentment bombshell. He did so without failing to state that he feels "French, Muslim, and proud."

"The people enjoyed looking at my tweets and taking some of my comments out of context, portraying me as anti-white, anti-patriotic, anti-Semitic, etc.," defended the 29-year-old athlete.

It was at this point that Kounta backtracked and apologised: "I sincerely apologise if anyone has been offended. I am against genocides and any form of racism or injustice, and I don’t think I need to prove how much I love my country," he stated.

The reality is that Kounta's messages were devastating. "The most terrible and horrible level of hell to the Zionists and their allies," read one of his reposts. Another, directly authored by him, declared: "Do not take Jews and Christians as allies; they are allies to each other."

The situation didn’t end there. The French sprinter went further, flooding his profile with messages inciting hatred towards Israel, trivialising the Holocaust, and quoting a verse from the Qur'an that labelled both Jews and Christians as enemies.

Without specifically commenting on the incident involving their runner, the FFA stated that "the body reminds all French team athletes that the expression of their opinions must in no way compromise the unity of French athletics or the French team and must respect republican values," as stated in a recent statement.

"It condemns athletes using the Olympic celebration as an opportunity to express personal views, some of which constitute a crime," it continued. To definitively close the controversy, it added: "The federation president has contacted the relevant authorities to clarify all these facts and will continue to do so in the future."