Olympic shot put star cleared by US team officials over alleged podium political gesture
A US shot putter has vowed to hold on to her Olympic silver medal after being accused of breaking rules by making a political gesture on the podium.
During the photo session after the medals ceremony on Sunday night, Raven Saunders stepped off the podium, lifted her arms above her head and formed an “X” with her wrists.
Asked what that meant, she told reporters: “It’s the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet.”
Raven Saunders competes in the final of the women’s shot put
Saunders, 25, who styles herself as “The Hulk” by competing in a superhero mask and dyes her hair green and purple, said in a late night Twitter post: “Let them try and take this [silver] medal.
“I’m running across the border even though I can’t swim.”
Her gesture was to support the downtrodden, she indicated by retweeting an article about the action by news website theGrio.
It is not clear if she will be punished and talks are under way between Olympic officials and US team bosses, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief spokesman Mark Adams said.
Kate Hartman, the chief spokeswoman for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said they had reminded the IOC Saunders did not undermine the awarding of the medals or the playing of the Chinese anthem.
China‘s Gong Lijiao won gold in the event.
Raven Saunders posed with the US flag after finishing second
The IOC, which prohibits demonstrations on the podium or during competition, said on Sunday night that an athlete’s national Olympic committee is required to issue any required punishment.
US officials have said they will not punish any athlete for exercising the right to free speech that does not express hatred.
The IOC last month relaxed rules forbidding athletes from any protests, allowing them to make gestures on the field, provided they do so without disruption and with respect for fellow competitors.
But the threat of sanctions remains for protests made on the podium during the medal ceremony.
If the IOC orders the Americans to punish an athlete and they refuse to do so, they would be in violation of the Olympic charter.
The Tokyo Games has already seen its fair share of protests.
Also on Sunday, US fencer Race Imboden took the bronze medal in foil with a circled X written on his hand. The meaning of the symbol remains unclear, but Imboden has knelt on the podium at previous tournaments to draw attention to racism and gun violence.
US fencer Race Imboden (L) with a cross on his right hand
Elsewhere, the captain of the German women’s hockey team has been wearing an armband in rainbow colours in solidarity with LGBTQ communities during the team’s matches.
The Australian women’s soccer team unfurled an indigenous flag prior to their opening match and several other women’s teams, including Team GB, took a knee in a signal against racial inequality.
Costa Rican gymnast Luciana Alvarado raised a fist while taking the knee at the end of her routine, in support of racial equality.
Federal air safety regulators have opened a fresh investigation into the Boeing 787 Dreamliner – after the firm said several employees had committed “misconduct” by falsely claiming tests had been completed.
The probe will look into whether Boeing completed inspections to confirm adequate bonding and grounding where the wings of certain 787 Dreamliner planes join the fuselage, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.
The investigation will also look at “whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records”, the US federal government agency added.
The FAA said Boeing is “reinspecting all 787 airplanes still within the production system and must also create a plan to address the in-service fleet” while the investigation is taking place.
Boeing shares were down 1.5% at $177.03 late on Monday afternoon.
‘Several people not performing required test’
In an email from 29 April, Scott Stocker, who leads Boeing’s 787 program, said that an employee saw what appeared to be an irregularity in a required 787 conformance test.
Mr Stocker wrote that after receiving the report “we quickly reviewed the matter and learned that several people had been violating company policies by not performing a required test, but recording the work as having been completed”.
In the email, addressed to employees in South Carolina where the 787 is assembled, Mr Stocker said Boeing promptly informed the FAA about what it had learned and said it is taking serious corrective action with “multiple” employees.
He added that “our engineering team has assessed that this misconduct did not create an immediate safety of flight issue”.
‘They are putting out defective airplanes’
It comes weeks after a Congressional investigation in April heard evidence on the safety culture and manufacturing standards at Boeing.
Sam Salehpour, a quality engineer at the company, told members of a Senate subcommittee that Boeing was taking shortcuts to bolster production levels that could lead to jetliners breaking apart.
He said of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, which has more than 1,000 in use across airlines globally including at British Airways, that excessive force was used to jam together sections of fuselage.
He claimed the extra force could compromise the carbon-composite material used for the plane’s frame.
“They are putting out defective airplanes,” he concluded, while adding that he was threatened when he raised concerns about the issue.
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Boeing quality engineer Sam Salehpour testifies during the Senate homeland security subcommittee hearing. Pic: AP
The engineer said he studied Boeing’s own data and concluded that the company is “taking manufacturing shortcuts on the 787 programme that could significantly reduce the airplanes’ safety and the life cycle”.
Boeing denied his claims surrounding both the Dreamliner’s structural integrity and that factory workers jumped on sections of fuselage to force them to align.
Two Boeing engineering executives said this week that its testing and inspections regimes have found no signs of fatigue or cracking in the composite panels, saying they were almost impervious to fatigue.
Boeing has been grappling with a months-long safety crisis since a panel blew out of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane mid-flight in January.
The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation into the mid-air emergency.
The National Transportation Safety Board has said four key bolts appeared to be missing from the plane.
Boeing has said it believes required documents detailing the removal of the bolts were never created.
A US soldier was detained in Russia over the weekend while on a private trip, according to officials.
The soldier, who hasn’t been named, has been accused of stealing from a woman, Sky News’ US partner network, NBC News, reported, citing four US officials.
The White House is aware of reports of an American soldier being detained in Russia, national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The soldier was arrested in the port city of Vladivostok on 2 May, “on charges of criminal misconduct,” US army spokesperson Cynthia O Smith said.
He had reportedly been stationed in South Korea and travelled to Russia for a personal trip and not on official duty, according to the US officials.
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“The Russian Federation notified the US Department of State of the criminal detention in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” Ms Smith said.
“The army notified his family and the US Department of State is providing appropriate consular support to the soldier in Russia.
“Given the sensitivity of this matter, we are unable to provide additional details at this time.”
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