In June 2021, as U.S. athletes competed in trials for the July Olympic Games in Tokyo, women's hammer thrower Gwen Berry prompted an outraged response from some quarters for her actions during a medal ceremony at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
On June 29, CBS News reported:
Hammer thrower and activist Gwen Berry has received fierce backlash after she appeared to turn her back to the American flag as the national anthem was being played at the U.S. Olympic Trials over the weekend.
Berry, who famously protested during the anthem in the 2019 Pan American Games, caught attention for turning her body toward the stands and away from the flag as "The Star-Spangled Banner" was playing at the trials in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday. Toward the end of the song, she put a black T-shirt with the words "Activist Athlete" on her head. Her competitors DeAnna Price, who won first place, and Brooke Andersen, second place winner, put their hands over their hearts and faced the flag.
Following her protest of the anthem, she drew ire from some conservative voices. Texas congressman Dan Crenshaw said Monday that Berry should be removed from the team. While sharing an article of the incident, Senator Ted Cruz tweeted, "Why does the Left hate America?" Former Republican presidential candidate and ex-Wisconsin governor Scott Walker also blasted Berry on Twitter.
Similar reports were published by CNN and The Athletic. Those articles accurately described Berry's actions, and as such we are issuing a rating of "True."
Berry, from St. Louis, Missouri, finished third in the women's hammer throw, thus earning a place on the American team for a second successive Olympic Games.
The medal ceremony does not appear to have been televised, and we were not able find video footage of it. However, several photographs of the ceremony, including the one below, clearly show Berry turning away as the first- and second-placed competitors, DeAnna Price and Brooke Andersen, placed their hands on their hearts while the national anthem was played.
At one point during the anthem, Berry draped over her head a t-shirt bearing the slogan "Activist athlete."
Susan Hazzard, a spokesperson for USA Track and Field, told The Associated Press the national anthem was played at around the same time during every day of the trials, 5:20 p.m., and that this happened to coincide with the women's hammer throw medal ceremony on June 26. According to the AP, the anthem was played slightly later on that date, at 5:25 p.m. Berry has claimed it was delayed as a "set up" targeting her specifically. Hazzard insisted: "We didn’t wait until the athletes were on the podium for the hammer throw awards."
Speaking to The Washington Post, Berry confirmed that she turned away during the playing of the anthem as a form of protest against racial injustice and police brutality:
I think sports is a distraction. Sports is entertainment. But my purpose and my voice and mission is bigger than the sport. So me being able to represent my communities and my people and those who have died at the hands of police brutality, those who have died to this systemic racism, I feel like that’s the important part. That’s why I’m going. And that’s why I was here today.