American defies Olympic rules by conducting banned act after winning silver

Openly gay African-American shot putter Raven Saunders delivered a powerful message as she accepted her silver medal.

Raven Saunders, Lijiao Gong and Valerie Adams at the medal ceremony for the women's shot put. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Silver medallist Raven Saunders put her Olympic victory on the line on Sunday, defying International Olympic Committee rules to make a powerful political statement.

The openly gay 25-year-old African-American shot putter raised her arms above her head to form an “X” in what she said was a show of solidarity with “people who are oppressed”.

Saunders said she wanted to represent “people all around the world who are fighting and don’t have the platform to speak up for themselves,” US media outlets reported.

Having endured a tumultuous upbringing where she battled with mental illness and watched as poverty and depression savaged the Black community, Saunders said the risk was worth it.

Raven Saunders made an ‘X’ gesture on the podium alongside China’s Lijiao Gong and New Zealand’s Valerie Adams. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Knowingly breaking IOC rules was how she hoped to “show younger people that no matter how many boxes they try to fit you in, you can be you and you can accept it”, ESPN reported.

In the past, she had been told not to get tattoos and piercings, but now proudly flaunts both, along with a split-colour hair style of purple and green, to represent her “Hulk” alter ego.

While she argued awareness surrounding mental health and the importance of seeking help had improved, she said there were still damaging remnants of stigma in society.

“It’s OK to need people, and I feel like in our community, a lot of times through history, we haven’t had access to the resources to be able to do that,” she said.

“Shout out to all my Black people, shout out to all my LBGTQ community, shout out to everybody dealing with mental health. Because at the end of the day, we understand that it’s bigger than us, and it’s bigger than the powers that be.”

Her protest was a first at the Tokyo Olympics, with the IOC yet to announce if or how the athlete would be disciplined.

Raven Saunders won the silver medal in the women's shot put final on Sunday. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Ahead of the Games, the IOC revealed peaceful protests before competition would be allowed, but maintained a strict rule against protesting on the medal podium.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams confirmed on Monday the US Olympic committee, the track and field’s governing body, World Athletics, and the IOC were in talks over the issue.

“We are, not surprisingly, looking into the matter and we’ll now consider our next steps,” he said

“I think we need to fully understand what’s going on and then take a decision from there.”

Updated IOC guidelines released last month said disciplinary consequences for protests would be “proportionate to the level of disruption and the degree to which the infraction is not compatible with Olympic values.”

The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee said before the games it would not sanction its athletes for protesting.

With AFP

Originally published as American defies Olympic rules by conducting banned act after winning silver