Raven Saunders is gearing up to participate in her second Olympics. In 2016 she participated in the shot put event in Rio with USA’s Michelle Carter taking home gold. This year she threw a personal best and broke the record at the Olympic trials. The four-time NCAA champion joins a record-breaking number of female athletes representing Team USA.
With more athletes feeling comfortable speaking about mental health, Saunders has never shied away from the topic of her past struggles. The hard-throwing, hulk mask-wearing Olympian spoke with us before her events in Tokyo about mental health, representation, and advice to athletes who look up to her.
How did you get involved with shot put?
My initial interest was basketball, My basketball coach invited me to do shot put. I ended up winning the championship freshman year and ending up winning the championship all four years.
My high school throws coach, Herbert Johnson, is like a dad to me, especially in the moments he showed me how much he cared. I was slacking in high school due to depression, and he gave me an ultimatum to do better in school, and I did and the rest is history.
Your nickname is “The Hulk” and you wore a hulk mask at the Olympic trials. What does that nickname mean to you?
The hulk represents overcoming struggles, and a representation of how I compartmentalize my anger and stress, I use it in the ring. Anything that stresses me out, I save it for practice, or training, or competitions.
That side of me where I like to get all of that aggression and that side of me out, and I let Raven live in peace mentally.
A record number of out LGBTQ+ athletes are representing Team USA. As an openly lesbian athlete, how do you feel about being a part of it?
It shows I can help be a part of the representation that matters. I want to show young guys, girls, and whoever that they can reach this level because it’s possible.
I feel like it’s really going to take off because there are so many people across sports like basketball, football, etc. that are able to come out and it was taboo several years back.
You have been open about your struggles with mental health. Why do you think that’s important and what impact do you hope that has?
I hope that people will feel more uncomfortable conversations, and they are very necessary and that people start to seek help if they need to reach out to someone.
What is your best advice to young athletes who dream of competing at the Olympics?
No matter what happens, keep pushing and fighting for their dreams. People will laugh at you, make fun of you, and sabotage you. It is up to you to make all of your dreams come true in spite of all of those factors.
If you want to support Raven at the Olympics, she wants you to wear something green! You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
