Raven Saunders’ X podium protest: What it means and why the IOC is investigating

CNN — US shot-putter Raven Saunders has explained what the gesture she made following her silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics meant. The 25-year-old raised her hands and crossed them in an X as she and her fellow medal winners posed for photos, telling NBC that it represented “the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet.” Saunders – a Black, LGBTQ athlete – bagged her first Olympic medal on Saturday, finishing with a distance of 19.79 meters. “People tell me not to do tattoos and piercings, but now look at me, I’m popping.” The International Olympic Committee has said it is looking into the gesture Saunders made on the podium, a potential breach of rules banning protests on medal podiums. Now, Olympian Raven Saunders wants to ‘destigmatize mental health’ ‘Keep fighting, keep pushing, keep finding value in yourself’ With her eye-catching mask and celebration after winning her medal – she twerked and then followed it up with another dance for the cameras – Saunders is one of the biggest characters at the Tokyo Summer Games. “I’m happy I get to bring this back for them, not just myself.” Saunders performing her X gesture on the shot put medal podium.