OLYMPIC GAMES | SHOT PUT
Why does Team USA’s Raven Saunders wear that mask? The Hulk is back
Saunders, a staunch advocate for social causes, appeared in the shot put qualifiers wearing a full-face mask and shades.
Simone Biles brought the debate on mental health to the global stage at Tokyo 2020. But another Team USA athlete, Raven Saunders, had been emphasizing this issue for many years, primarily because they have intensely experienced it themself. The 28-year-old American shot putter is a fighter – against everything and against themself. After winning silver in Tokyo, the South Carolina native stepped onto the podium, raised their arms, and formed an ‘X’ with their wrists for more than 20 seconds to symbolize “the intersection where all oppressed people meet in this society.”
They risked a significant sanction that could have prevented them from participating in Paris 2024. Not for missing three anti-doping tests, which led to their absence from the World Championships in Budapest 2023, but for violating the section of the Olympic Charter stating that “no kind of demonstration or political, religious, or racial propaganda is permitted.”
In reply Saunders said: “Let them try to take away this medal. I’ll swim across the ocean, and I don’t even know how.”
The story behind Saunders and The Hulk
“Hulk” – as they like to be called after the comic book character similarities in size and strength – emulated their compatriots Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who in Mexico 1968 raised their fists clad in black gloves to highlight racial inequality and the lack of civil rights for Black people. They wear a very distinctive and impactful outfit, to which they have added masks of their own Hulk design following the Covid pandemic, which required athletes to wear masks to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
“Early on, similar to the Hulk, I had a tough time differentiating between the two [Bruce Banner and monster],” Saunders explained. “I had a tough time controlling when the Hulk came out or when the Hulk didn’t come out.
“But through my journey, especially dealing with mental health and things like that, I learned how to compartmentalize, the same way that Bruce Banner learned to control the Hulk, learned how to let the Hulk come out during the right moments and that way it also gave him a sign of mental peace.
“But when the Hulk came out, the Hulk was smashing everything that needed to be smashed.”
Saunders is a defender of teenagers, the LGBTQ+ community, Black women, and people who have had suicidal thoughts. In the shot put qualification, Saunders threw the shot to 18.62 meters, easily securing their place in the final. The medal event, featuring the top twelve athletes, will not include Belén Toimil, who placed 25th with a throw of 16.83 meters.