The U.S. Olympic hammer thrower who won gold at a qualifier and honored the national anthem, which makes her “cry every time,” opened up about her teammate’s protest.
DeAnna Price was one of the two medalists who stood on the podium with their hands over their hearts during the “Star-Spangled Banner” at an Olympic trial June 26. Her teammate Gwen Berry, however, shifted to face the crowd, held her flowers by her side, and covered her head with a T-shirt that said, “Activist Athlete.”
“Whenever I stand for the flag, I think about all of the people who died before us,” Price said about standing during the playing of the national anthem. “I think about anyone who sacrificed anything for me, and it just makes me cry every time — every time I hear it. That’s one thing I love [about] America is that we have freedom of speech.”
Despite trying to “avoid” talking about Berry’s protest, Price said Berry and she have been “very, very close” for years and that they’ve known each other for over a decade.
“When I stand for the flag, I stand for the people, and so to me … we’re good, I’m fine. She’s gonna do her, I’m gonna do me, and we both talk about it, and we’ve had our conversation,” Price said.
The timing of when the anthem was played was intentional, Berry previously said, describing it as a “set-up” done “on purpose.” The Olympian was told it would be played before or after they stood on the podium, she claimed, though USA Track and Field spokeswoman Susan Hazzard has denied the allegation.
Berry has not directly said whether she plans to protest the anthem at the Olympics, and she’s pushed back on critics who have said she shouldn’t be representing the country.
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The 2021 Summer Olympics begin July 23 and end Aug. 8.
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Tags: News, Olympics, National Anthem, Protests
Original Author: Mike Brest
Original Location: ‘She’s gonna do her, I’m gonna do me’: Gold medal hammer thrower who honored anthem reacts to peer’s protest
