Olympic hammer-thrower Gwen Berry is taking flak for once again showing her disdain and disrespect for the National Anthem during the US Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, by turning her back and putting a T-shirt over her head.

https://www.westernjournal.com/olympics-bound-athlete-claims-set-turning-back-us-flag-raising-activist-message-anthem-played/

She’s attempting to deflect criticism by claiming she was “set up,” but in order to swallow that, you’d have to believe, as she apparently does, that the entire Olympic system revolves around her and her angry feelings toward her own nation that she believes is systemically racist, despite it giving her the opportunity to be an Olympian.

For instance, she claimed she was angry because they played the Anthem during the medal awards (she won bronze.) She said, “I feel like they did that on purpose,” and “The anthem don’t speak for me. It never has.” A spokesperson for the trials said the Anthem was scheduled to play at 5:20 p.m. and (gasp!) it had nothing to do with where Gwen Berry happened to be standing at the time.

Berry is also wrankled by the Tokyo Olympics’ ban on political demonstrations during medal ceremonies. She said, “It’s our sacrifice. It’s our podium. It’s our moment. So we should be able to protest whatever we want. It’s not for them to decide.”

Wow, that sure is a lot of me’s, we’s and our’s. Actually, it is their podium. She chose to participate in an organization that she doesn’t run. And she’s not just representing herself; like it or not, she’s representing the United States of America. If she finds that idea so repulsive that she’s incapable of behaving like an adult and following the rules, then nobody’s forcing her to compete for the privilege.

And by the way: it is a privilege. It’s not a right. Luckily for her, America provides her with an awful lot of rights she doesn’t seem to appreciate, but being able to go to Tokyo and compete in the Olympics while ignoring the rules is not one of them.