Gwen Berry's medal ceremony during the Olympic Trials ended with the hammer thrower protest. The athlete was seen turning away when the national anthem being played. Furthermore, she was seen holding up a T-shirt reading 'Activist Athlete'. While speaking about her act to the press Gwen said that she felt that she was being 'set up'. While speaking about her act. she further said, "They said they were going to play it before we walked out, then they played it when we were out there,'' Berry said. 2020 Tokyo Olympics: From Neymar Jr To Serena Williams, Here’s a List of Sportspersons Who will Miss Out on Summer Games.
Her Olympic trails witnessed the hammer thrower coming third and thus qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Thus when the national anthem was played. Gwen turned away and placed her hand on the hip and then held the T-Shirt. After this, she even posted a picture of the act on social media with the caption, " "I said what I said... I mean what I said. STOP PLAYING WITH ME!! PERIOD!"
Check out her post below:
Stop playing with me pic.twitter.com/WLN3clqOCM
— Gwen Berry OLY (@MzBerryThrows) June 27, 2021
The White House had a positive reaction to her act. "He would also say that part of that pride in our country means recognizing there are moments where we, as a country, haven't lived up to our highest ideals, and means respecting the right of people granted in the Constitution to peacefully protest," said secretary Jen Psaki. This is not the first time that Gwen has used this podium to register her protest. In the 2019, Pan-American Games in Lima, Peru, she threw her fist in the air and this had even resulted in her losing sponsorships.
(The above story first appeared on SociallyKeeda on Jun 29, 2021 09:19 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).