Non-binary Olympics star Raven Saunders pulls on their trademark mask for shot put final… a day after sparking controversy over participation in women’s event
Raven Saunders donned her signature mask for the shout put finale, a day after the non-binary Team USA member caused a stir for her participation in the women’s event.
Saunders finished 11th out of 12 finalists in the shot put, more than two metres behind gold medal winner Yemisi Ogunleye.
Saunders was back in competition after serving an 18-month suspension for missing three doping tests.
They first caused a stir by adopting the alter ego of ‘The Hulk’, before taking the character to a new level.
When they competed today, they wore masks, had their hair dyed neon green and purple, had gold grills on their teeth, and had long nails on their left hands, decorated with the colors of Team USA, with the letters HULK.
Non-binary shot putter Raven Saunders shows off his nails and hair during Friday’s event
Saunders also wore his trademark mask during the shot put final at the Olympics
Saunders won a silver medal in the shout put event in Tokyo, but they failed to repeat this in Paris.
The unique wardrobe Saunders has put together is entirely her own work. She also wears the requisite red, white and blue track and field uniform.
On Thursday, BBC commentator Steve Backley introduced Saunders, who incorrectly referred to the athlete as a woman, only to be corrected by his co-commentator Jazmin Sawyers.
“The colorful character of Raven Saunders is back. It’s nice to see her back, sort of. Sort of seeing her, I mean,” Backley said, referring to Saunders’ mask, before Sawyers responded.
“Well, we can’t really see them that well. Raven Saunders is actually non-binary and she’s wearing a mask there – we’re quite used to seeing them with interesting clothing,” Backley said around footage of a masked Saunders getting ready to do battle.
The controversy surrounding Saunders is the latest chapter in what has been a major talking point during the Paris Olympics.
Female boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting have been the ones to bear the brunt of the controversy, with claims that they both possess male XY chromosomes. Both Lin and Khelif will be battling for gold medals in the coming days.