It was deep inside. But after hitting 18.62 in her final shot of qualifying at the Stade de France, Raven Saunders is one of 12 in the starting field when the women’s Olympic shot put final is decided on Friday night.
The 28-year-old has a career behind him that consisted of a doping suspension, attention-grabbing gestures and an Olympic silver.
But it’s hard to avoid marveling at the masks.
On Thursday, Saunders competed in a black mask, and wore all the more colorful glasses. The hair was dyed green and purple. The nails – painted in the colors of the American flag – read: HULK.
A kind of alter ego that came into use in a competition context.
– I had to remind people who I am, says Saunders according to the AP news agency.
But the fact that the shot putter competes in a mask is no surprise in itself – as it is not the first time. In the Tokyo 2021 games, it was a mask with teeth that applied, and in the US Olympic selections at the end of June, the mask had pink elements.
Image 1 of 2 Raven Saunders during the Olympics in Tokyo in the summer of 2021 … Photo: Michael Kappeler/AP Image 2 of 2 … and Raven Saunders during the American Olympic selections earlier this summer. Photo: George Walker/AP
It’s not either only because of the headgear that Saunders has taken center stage over the years. When it came time to accept the silver medal during the Tokyo Olympics, the American star stretched out her arms and crossed them over each other.
A symbol of the place where oppressed groups meet, was the explanation for the gesture.
Raven Saunders during the award ceremony in Tokyo. Photo: Francisco Seco/AP
But so it was the fact that the road to the Olympics in Paris has not been particularly easy – and for that matter, neither have the roads to other Olympic Games. Saunders has previously talked openly about his struggle with mental illness and depression during his career.
However, what was jeopardizing an Olympic participation this summer was the suspension that Saunders was punished with after repeatedly breaking the stay reporting. It is classed as a doping offence, and Saunders was suspended – but only until mid-February this year.
The Olympics in Paris were it in the end, and now the final awaits for Raven Saunders – who promised a new mask for Friday’s decision.
In the starting field there is also double Swedish representation in Axelina Johansson and Fanny Roos. The final starts at 19.37 on Friday evening.
Read more:
Olympic diary from 2021: Politics has found its way into the Tokyo Olympics
Raven Saunders is suspended for doping offences
This is what it’s like to play football in a mask: “Losing the peripheral sense”
