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In June 2021, as U.S. athletes competed in trials for the July Olympic Games in Tokyo, women's hammer thrower Gwen Berry prompted an outraged response from some quarters for her actions during a medal ceremony at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. On June 29, CBS News reported: Similar reports were published by CNN and The Athletic. Those articles accurately described Berry's actions, and as such we are issuing a rating of True. Berry, from St. Louis, Missouri, finished third in the women's hammer throw, thus earning a place on the American team for a second successive Olympic Games. The medal ceremony does not appear to have been televised, and we were not able find video footage of it. However, several photographs of the ceremony, including the one below, clearly show Berry turning away as the first- and second-placed competitors, DeAnna Price and Brooke Andersen, placed their hands on their hearts while the national anthem was played. At one point during the anthem, Berry draped over her head a t-shirt bearing the slogan Activist athlete. Susan Hazzard, a spokesperson for USA Track and Field, told The Associated Press the national anthem was played at around the same time during every day of the trials, 5:20 p.m., and that this happened to coincide with the women's hammer throw medal ceremony on June 26. According to the AP, the anthem was played slightly later on that date, at 5:25 p.m. Berry has claimed it was delayed as a set up targeting her specifically. Hazzard insisted: We didn’t wait until the athletes were on the podium for the hammer throw awards. Speaking to The Washington Post, Berry confirmed that she turned away during the playing of the anthem as a form of protest against racial injustice and police brutality:
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