Long doping ban imposed
Athletics star Berry threatens to leave the Olympics
8/3/2023 8:17 am
Gwen Berry’s dream of participating in the Olympic Games in Paris is about to be shattered. The American hammer thrower receives a doping ban. For the second time in her career. She tested positive for the banned substance canrenone.
American hammer thrower Gwen Berry has been banned for 16 months after testing positive. The 34-year-old is threatened with the end of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. She finished eleventh at the 2021 Tokyo Games. Berry, who has a history of protesting for social justice on the podium, tested positive for the banned substance canrenone in an out-of-competition test in March. This was announced by the US anti-doping agency USADA.
According to USADA, the substance entered her system through a drug that Berry had a prescription for. However, Berry failed to apply for a therapeutic use exemption for the drug. It is the second time in Berry’s career that she has been suspended for an anti-doping violation. In 2016, she was suspended for three months for taking a banned asthma drug. The new ban runs until August 28, 2024.
In June 2021, Berry caused a stir at the US track and field athletes’ trials with a protest during the national anthem. She turned away when the anthem was played, then held up a T-shirt that read “Activist Athlete.”
Berry has been campaigning against racism and police violence against black people in the United States for years. After her triumph at the 2019 Pan American Games, she had emulated US sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ iconic protest against injustice at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. With this action, Berry addressed, among others, the then President Donald Trump.