Tokyo: US shot-putter Raven Saunders, who won her event’s silver medal, made the Tokyo Olympics’ first podium demonstration.
As the medallists posed for photos, Saunders raised her arms and crossed them into an X shape. She said it represented “the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet.”
The 25-year-old, who is black, gay, and has spoken frankly about her struggles with depression, said she wanted “to be me, to not apologise”.
While the IOC did relax its Rule 50 before the Tokyo Games, saying athletes could speak up in media conferences or during introductions, IOC chief Thomas Bach reiterated that athletes could not protest on the medal stand.
Saunders, who is Black, queer and battles depression and is open about all three, spoke at length after her medal-winning performance, saying she wants to help shine a light on people around the world who are fighting and “don’t have a platform to speak up for themselves.”
Bach has threatened sanctions for athletes who protest on the podium, though it is unclear what the sanctions would be. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee allowed protests at its Trials for these Games, but once at the Olympics athletes are under IOC rules.
Saunders’s gesture looked to be a clear violation of the organization’s prohibition on political demonstrations on the podium or during competitions, even though the organization in recent months has relaxed its rules against demonstration in other areas the Olympic committee controls.
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