Mask-wearing shot put standout Raven Saunders earns spot to Paris Olympics with 2nd place finish

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Raven Saunders wore a gold nose ring and had gold grills covering their upper and lower teeth. They even painted their nails gold for the occasion.

Sensing a theme?

Saunders, the shot put standout who wears a mask at competitions and identifies with the pronouns they/them, is chasing an Olympic gold medal at the Paris Games after earning silver in Tokyo. Saunders took a step toward that goal by finishing second at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials Saturday night to earn a place on the team.

Not that they ever doubted it. Not after injuries. Not after dealing with mental-health hurdles. Not after serving a suspension. Not ever.

To celebrate, Saunders, whose alter ego is “ The Hulk, ” plans to smoke a cigar they brought in their backpack just for this occasion.

“I am and constantly sitting myself down and looking in that mirror and reminding myself, ‘You’re Raven, The Hulk. You will achieve it,’” said Saunders, who wore purple hair instead of their trademark green since sprinter Kyree King went with that color. “There’s nothing in this world that will stop you from being great, except for yourself. So that’s really been my mantra this season.”

Saunders had a big opening attempt Saturday only to see two-time world champion Chase Jackson overtake the mark with a throw of 20.10 meters. Saunders couldn't top it — although they did reach a season-best distance of 19.90 meters.

“Words really can’t describe the fact of me even being here in this moment, me being able to come out and compete and throw as far as I did with everything I’ve been through,” Saunders said. “It’s a blessing that I’m even here right now. So to be able to make my third team after stating that I wanted to and after quitting the sport five or six different times this year — of doubting myself and fighting and battling myself, and having people drop out of the race with me, I mean, it’s amazing I'm here right now.”

Saunders might be best known for what happened after they picked up their silver medal in Tokyo. They stepped off the podium and into some controversy by forming an “X” with their wrists. Saunders explained the “X” stood for “the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet.”

Just before leaving Tokyo, Saunders learned of their mom's death. Their mom was attending a Team USA hospitality event in Florida — and watched Saunders win the Olympic medal — when she passed. Saunders posted on social media: “My mama was a great woman and will forever live through me. My number one guardian angel.”

Already an emotional time, Saunders underwent hip surgery a few months later.

“If I were smart I should have took that 2022 year off, especially after everything that happened,” Saunders said. “I really wasn’t in the best mental state to be able to compete and I was battling with myself most of the year.”

Saunders was later hit with an 18-month suspension by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for failing to show up for doping tests. It was dated to August 15, 2022, which meant Saunders missed last summer's world championships in Hungary, but was back in time to get ready for Paris.

They used the time away from the sport to reflect and dive deeper into training.

“I really became at peace with it and I just really took it as more time to be able to get to grind,” said Saunders, who doesn’t have a coach. “More time to just focus on making this Olympic team, more time to focus on myself and on my mental health. So it actually proved to be a benefit to myself.”

Saunders has been vocal about struggling with mental-health issues, but said they're in a good place now with, “lots and lots and lots of therapy.”

One of Saunders' trademarks in a competition is donning a mask. Sometimes, it's in the theme of the “Hulk.” On Saturday, it was a “Day of the Dead” sort of motif.

“It’s a way to show people that I’m back — back like I never left,” Saunders explained. “People didn't think I could come back to this moment.

“This is what my whole career has been about — it's about being doubted and still being able to come out and perform and ... to showcase who I am. I’m a champion. I’m a winner. I’m one of the best athletes in the world no matter what has happened, no matter what tries to stop me, no matter what tries to get in my way.”

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Tara Davis-Woodhall celebrates after winning the women's long jump final with Raven Saunders during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Eugene, Ore.(AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Chase Jackson competes in the women's shot put final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Raven Saunders competes in the women's shot put final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Raven Saunders competes in the women's shot put final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Raven Saunders competes in the women's shot put final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Inflation in the 20-nation eurozone crept lower to 2.5% in June, but remained stuck above the level favored by the European Central Bank, which is in no hurry to add more rate cuts after a first tentative reduction in its benchmark rate.

The figure released Tuesday was down from 2.6% in May, welcome news as inflation continues to fall from its peak of 10.6% that robbed consumers of spending power and mired the European economy in months of near-zero growth.

But key indicators Tuesday remained at levels that suggest inflation may remain stuck between 2% and 3% for a while yet. Inflation in services prices ran at 4.1%, unchanged from the month before.

The ECB’s caution in making sure inflation is under control comes as the U.S. Federal Reserve holds off on cutting rates from current highs. The central banks don’t want to belatedly discover that inflation is more stubborn than they thought and reverse course — a mistake that would make inflation harder to wring out of the economy and would ding their credibility into the bargain.

High rates aim to squelch inflation by making it more expensive to borrow money to buy goods or invest in new factory equipment. That relieves pressure on prices — but can also dampen growth. That’s the tightrope the ECB and the Fed are trying to walk: make sure inflation is contained, without pushing their economies into recession.

ECB President Christine Lagarde said in a speech on Monday that the bank needed to first make sure inflation was firmly under control before cutting its key rate again after a first, quarter-point cut at its June 6 meeting to the current 3.75%.

“It will take time for use to gather sufficient data to be certain that the risks of above targe inflation have passed,” Lagarde said in a speech at an ECB conference in Sintra, Portugal. She said that though growth in the eurozone was uncertain, the jobs market remained strong with low unemployment levels. That is a sign that the economy is holding up even with rates much higher than before.

Even so, higher rates have held back credit-sensitive areas such as real estate and construction. Mortgage rates for house purchase have risen, and a yearslong rally in house prices in the eurozone has come to an end. Savers, however, are seeing relief from the earlier period of zero rates that saw some banks paying negative interest on savings — in other words, charging people to keep their money there.

Lagarde has characterized the first rate cut in June as merely “moderating the level of restriction” on the economy and not as the start of a rapid series of cuts. She says decisions will be based on incoming data on a meeting-to-meeting basis.

Analysts say that no cut is likely at the bank’s meeting July 18, meaning the discussion about rates remains focused on the bank’s September meeting.

The European economy has slogged through quarter after quarter of near-zero growth, with a modest upturn of 0.3% in the first three months of this year. Recent indicators such as S&P Global’s purchasing managers’ index indicate that factory activity in the eurozone is contracting.

Europe’s economy slowed after an outbreak of inflation caused by higher energy prices robbed consumers of purchasing power that they are only now regaining through new labor agreements and pay increases. Energy prices soared after Russia cut off most supplies of natural gas over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and those higher prices fed through into prices for other goods and then to services, a broad category including everything from medical care and concert tickets to haircuts and restaurant bills.

FILE - President of European Central Bank Christine Lagarde attends a press conference after a meeting of the ECB's governing council in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, June 6, 2024. Inflation is on the way down in Europe. That's good news. But not good enough for the European Central Bank to cut interest rates just yet. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)