Last September, U.S. Olympic hammer thrower Gwen Berry bowed her head and raised her fist in protest atop the podium of the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, as an instrumental version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” played. For her demonstration against racial injustice and police brutality in America, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee put her on a 12-month probation for breaking rules on political protests at a global championship.
Berry’s probation expires in a summer when the Olympics have been postponed, but also in a time when the country is in a state of national unrest and anger following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.