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View Full Version : ‘I Feel Like It Was Setup’: Hammer Thrower Turns Away From American Flag During National Anthem



Teh One Who Knocks
06-28-2021, 10:47 AM
By Joe Morgan - The Daily Wire


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At the U.S. Olympic track and field trials on Saturday, hammer thrower Gwen Berry turned away from the American flag as the National Anthem played.

Berry placed third in the hammer throw on Saturday, qualifying her for the Tokyo Olympics. As the National Anthem began to play with the winners standing on the podium, Berry turned away from the flag so that she was facing the stands. Toward the end of the anthem, she pulled up a black t-shirt with the words “Activist Athlete” on the front to cover her head.

According to The Associated Press, the national anthem has been played every night for the past week at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, but the anthem is not played during medal ceremonies like it is during the Olympics.

“The national anthem was scheduled to play at 5:20 p.m. today,” USA Track and Field spokesman Susan Hazzard said. “We didn’t wait until the athletes were on the podium for the hammer throw awards. The national anthem is played every day according to a previously published schedule.”

The anthem began at 5:25 on Saturday, according to the AP.

Berry felt the timing of the playing was done on purpose.

“I feel like it was setup,” Berry said with a burst of laughter. “I feel like they did that on purpose, and I was pissed, to be honest. I was thinking about what should I do. Eventually, I just stayed there and just swayed. I put my shirt over my head. It was real disrespectful. I know they did that on purpose, but it’ll be all right. I see what’s up.”

“It was funny because they said they were going to play it before we walked out,” Berry said according to The Washington Post. “It just happened they played it when we were out there. So, you know, it’s okay. I really don’t want to talk about the anthem because that’s not important. The anthem don’t speak for me. It never has.”
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In 2019, Berry raised her fist while on the podium at the Pan-Am Games. The move led to a formal reprimand from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, but Berry was not suspended. She did, however, receive a 12-month probation.

Berry said that turning away during the anthem was not a message.

“It really wasn’t a message,” Berry said. “I didn’t want to be up there. I felt like it was a setup. I was hot. I was ready to get my pictures and get to some shade.”

“My purpose and my mission is bigger than sports,” Berry said. “I’m here to represent those … who died due to systemic racism. That’s the important part. That’s why I’m going. That’s why I’m here today.”

DeAnna Price won gold in the event with a throw of 262 feet, 6 inches, and said she was “proud” of Berry.

“I think people should say whatever they want to say. I’m proud of her,” Price said.

Berry said that she has not decided how she will demonstrate at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

“When I get there,” Berry said, “I’ll figure out something to do.”

FBD
06-28-2021, 11:04 AM
If the US Olympic coaching was not pozzed, fuckin idiot activists that happen to be decent at athletics would be shown the door immediately

Teh One Who Knocks
06-28-2021, 11:13 AM
Does this bitch know what the Olympics is about? About representing your COUNTRY? If you hate this country so fucking much, then leave. Why the fuck are you even trying out? She should be immediately kicked off the team. It's because of bitches like her that people don't give a shit about the Olympics any more.

The Monk
06-29-2021, 09:35 AM
Does this bitch know what the Olympics is about? About representing your COUNTRY? If you hate this country so fucking much, then leave. Why the fuck are you even trying out? She should be immediately kicked off the team. It's because of bitches like her that people don't give a shit about the Olympics any more.

True - athletes think they have influence and only the gullible accept that.

Teh One Who Knocks
06-29-2021, 10:26 AM
By Keith Koffler | Fox News


White House press secretary Jen Psaki Monday defended U.S. track and field star Gwen Berry's decision to turn her back on the nation's flag, saying Berry was seeking to "peacefully protest" the moments that Americans "haven’t lived up to our highest ideals."

Berry, 31, placed third over the weekend in the hammer throw during the U.S. Olympic trials, earning her a spot on the team. As the National Anthem was played, she turned from the flag.

"This weekend, Gwen Barry, who hopes to represent the United States as an Olympian on the hammer throwing events, won a bronze medal at the trials, and then she turned her back on the flag while the anthem played," Fox News' Peter Doocy said to Psaki during the daily White House briefing. "Does President Biden think that is appropriate behavior for someone who hopes to represent Team USA?"

"Well, Peter, I — I haven’t spoken to the President specifically about this, but I know he’s incredibly proud to be an American and has great respect for the Anthem and all that it represents, especially for our men and women serving in uniform all around the world," Psaki said.

"He would also say, of course, that part of that pride in our country means recognizing there are moments where we are — as a country, haven’t lived up to our highest ideals, and it means respecting the right of people, granted to them in the Constitution, to peacefully protest."

Berry has a history of taking controversial stances, raising a fist during the medal ceremony at the Pan American Games in 2019.

The anthem doesn’t speak for me. It never has," said Berry. "My purpose and my mission is bigger than sports," Berry said.

Teh One Who Knocks
06-29-2021, 10:26 AM
:|

FBD
06-29-2021, 10:49 AM
I am completedly shocked, I tell you

PorkChopSandwiches
06-29-2021, 03:45 PM
:roll:

I'm glad she feels so comfortable putting words in his mouth, but I'm sure she does that with the words he speaks anyway

Teh One Who Knocks
06-30-2021, 10:43 AM
By Ryan Gaydos | Fox News


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Gwen Berry, a U.S. Olympic hammer thrower who came under fire for her demonstration during the national anthem at track and field trials dismissed assertions she hates the country she represents.

Berry finished in third place at the trials and made the team set to head to Tokyo next month for the coronavirus-delayed Olympic Games. But she drew negative attention when she turned away from the flag as the national anthem blared and later would cover her face with a shirt that read "Activist Athlete."

Amid scrutiny and boisterous claims she shouldn’t be representing the U.S. in the Games, Berry fired back in an interview with the Black News Channel on Tuesday.

"I never said that I didn't want to go to the Olympic Games, that's why I competed and got third and made the team," Berry said.

"I never said that I hated the country. I never said that. All I said was I respect my people enough to not stand for or acknowledge something that disrespects them. I love my people. Point blank, period."

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Berry said she specifically has an issue with a line in "The Star-Spangled Banner," which she says alludes to catching and beating slaves.

The third stanza of the song reads: "And where is that band who so vauntingly swore, That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion. A home and a Country should leave us no more? Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave. From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave. O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave."

Berry said: "If you know your history, you know the full song of the national anthem, the third paragraph speaks to slaves in America, our blood being slain...all over the floor. It's disrespectful and it does not speak for Black Americans. It's obvious. There's no question."

According to Stevenson University, a debate has raged about the meaning of the line "hireling and slave" and whether it flatly has racist tones or a "rhetorical tool."

It’s not the first time Berry has protested during Team USA events.

Earlier in the week, she raised a fist in protest before one event. She also raised a fist during the national anthem after winning gold in the 2019 Pan American Games.

FBD
06-30-2021, 01:40 PM
cripes get these weirdoes off the team, they dont represent the USA

Teh One Who Knocks
06-30-2021, 02:02 PM
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lost in melb.
07-01-2021, 12:26 AM
Well.. at least it was mostly peaceful ;)