The Reason Shot Putter Raven Saunders Is Wearing a Mask at the Paris Olympics

Team USA shot putter Raven Saunders, 28, won a silver medal at the Tokyo Games and will compete in the shot put final on Aug. 9 at the Paris Summer Olympics. The athlete has gained much attention online for their unique fashion choices. Saunders, who uses they/them pronouns, is known to wear a face mask when competing.

On Thursday, Aug. 8, they sported a thick black mask that covered their face, along with orange-tinted sunglasses. They also had one side of their hair dyed green and the other half dyed purple, gold grills covering upper and lower teeth, and their fingernails painted with the Team USA colors. Saunders also occasionally switches up their style. They competed in a pink “Day of the Dead”-style mask during the Olympic trials.

“I’m in full form,” Saunders told reporters when asked about their most recent outfit, per the Guardian. “I had to remind the people, I am who I am.”

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Saunders says that their style is inspired by the comic-book character the Hulk, a shy and reserved physics professor named Bruce Banner who turns into a large green monster called “the Hulk” whenever he becomes angry. A central theme of his story is learning to control his anger. 

“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,” Saunders said in 2021, per Yahoo! Sport. “But when the Hulk came out, the Hulk was smashing everything that needed to be smashed.”

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Saunders also said that they became comfortable frequently wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has continued to wear masks even after the pandemic since it helps them avoid distractions. They wore a Hulk-themed mask during the Tokyo Olympics.

Interestingly, Saunders is not the only athlete to wear a mask while competing. French soccer captain Kylian Mbappé also garnered attention for wearing a mask during the EURO 2024 tournament to protect his recently broken nose from injury.

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