Raven Saunders jumped into the media spotlight at the Tokyo Olympics with her iconic look. The American Shot putter entered the tracks with a Joker themed mask and coloured hair, winning the psychological battle more than anyone there.
Picking up the shot, she was expected to medal at the Games and did just that. Throwing a whopping 19.79m throw, she secured the silver medal and the distance was not reached by other athletes in the remaining attempts.
After her final throw, Saunders hit the media again by celebrating with a twerk. Cameras immediately shifted to Lijiao Gong of China, but fans got to see enough to enjoy the moment on social media. You can see the few seconds of it in the tweet attached below.?
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Raven Saunders 😂😂 #Tokyo2020 #shotput pic.twitter.com/5nydlZpY4I
— 🌴🍹Dean🍦🇺🇸 (@ItsMeDeaner) August 1, 2021
Raven Saunders did what she came to do and earned silver. The gold was well out of reach and was firmly in the hands of China?s Lijiao Gong, who threw a personal best of 20.58m. No other athletes at the event were able to break the 20m mark.
New Zealand?s Valerie Adams managed to take the Bronze medal with a throw of 19.62m, edging over Portugal?s Auriol Dongmo, who threw 19.57.
While Raven Saunders showed up, Jessica Ramsey did not
A shocking part of the event was the complete no-show of USA?s Jessica Ramsey. The 30-year-old threw a personal best and meet record of 20.12m in the finals of the Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon two months ago and was heavily touted to compete with Gong for the gold.?
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She managed to best Saunders, who had also thrown a personal best of 19.96m that day. However, in Tokyo, Ramsey fouled all three of her attempts. For this reason, she was not allowed to take the fourth and was given an NM (No Mark). It was truly a shocking conclusion for an athlete who was certainly expected to medal.?
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Needless to say, Raven Saunders made her mark on the Tokyo Games with her eye-catching fashion choice and definitely did what she came for. Known as ?Hulk? by her fans, we may just see her upgrade to gold in Paris.?