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Why Does Raven Saunders Wear a Mask? All About American Shot Putter’s Bizarre Hulk Mask
Raven Saunders has never been afraid to stand out, and that's precisely what they did in Thursday's shot put semifinals.
![Raven Saunders [Credit-Instagram@giveme1shot__]](https://www.pinkvilla.com/images/2024-08/1229814655_raven-saunders-credit-instagram.jpg "Raven Saunders [Credit-Instagram@giveme1shot__]")
Simone Biles pushed the mental health subject to the world stage in Tokyo 2020. However, Raven Saunders, another Team USA athlete, has been addressing this topic for many years, owing to her severe personal experience.
The 28-year-old American shot putter is a warrior - against everything, including herself. After winning silver in Tokyo, the South Carolina native stood on the stage, lifted her arms, and made an 'X' with her wrists for over 20 seconds to represent "the intersection where all oppressed people meet in this society."
She feared receiving a substantial fine that would have banned her from competing in Paris 2024. Not for failing three anti-doping tests, which resulted in her removal from the World Championships in Budapest 2023, but for breaking a clause of the Olympic Charter that states, "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.”
Saunders adopted her 'Hulk' alter-ego, which includes the mask, spectacles, and hair. The female Hulk, as she prefers to be known due to her resemblance to the comic book character's size and strength, modeled herself after her compatriots Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who raised their fists in Mexico in 1968 to highlight racial inequality and the lack of civil rights for Black people.
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She wears a highly unusual and impactful attire, to which she has added her Hulk-designed masks in response to the Covid epidemic, which obliged athletes to wear masks to limit the danger of transmitting the infection.
“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 an advocate for teens, the LGBTQ+ community, Black women, and those who have suicide thoughts. Saunders comfortably qualified for the final in the shot put with a throw of 18.62 meters. Belén Toimil, who finished 25th with a throw of 16.83 meters, will not compete in the medal event, which features the top twelve competitors.
Saunders was handed an 18-month ban for missing three doping tests last year but has returned in time to take her place in Paris. The women’s shot put final will take place at the Stade de France on Friday.
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