Gwen Berry Explained

Gwen Berry
Sport:Track and field
Event:Hammer throw
Birth Date:29 June 1989
Birth Place:St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Height:5inchesft10inchesin (ftin)
Turnedpro:2011
Collegeteam:Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Club:NYAC & NIKE

Gwendolyn Denise Berry (born June 29, 1989) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the hammer throw. Her mark of on June 8, 2018, ranks her #7 on the all-time list. She also holds the world record in the weight throw with a mark of set in March 2017.[1] She is a three-time national champion in the weight throw at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. She was the gold medalist in the hammer at the 2014 Pan American Sports Festival. She is also the 2019 Pan American Games Champion.

Berry is currently serving a 16-month suspension due to a second doping violation set to expire in August 2024.

Career

Early life and college

Gwen Berry was born to Michael Berry and Laura Hayes; she grew up in Florissant, Missouri and attended McCluer High School. While there she was a basketball player but started taking part in track in the off-season and competed in the triple jump. She began studying for a degree in psychology and criminal justice at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2007. She took up throwing events for the Southern Illinois Salukis collegiate team and came fourth in the hammer throw at the 2008 USA Junior Championships.

Her throwing improved the following year and she was the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) champion in the weight throw and shot put and reached eleventh in the former event at the NCAA Indoor Championships. In 2010, she earned NCAA All-American honours in the weight throw and shot put indoors and the hammer throw outdoors (taking fourth at the 2010 NCAA Outdoors).[2] That season she set bests of for the shot put, for the weight throw and for the hammer throw.[3]

Berry's international debut for the United States came at the 2010 NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics. She took the hammer bronze, behind Heather Steacy and fellow Salukis athlete Jeneva McCall.[4]

In her last season at Southern Illinois, Berry reached new peaks. A shot put best of brought her the MVC outdoor title and she later placed twelfth at the 2011 Championships.[3] In the weight throw she in Bloomington, Indiana, which placed her second in the world for the event that year behind Amber Campbell.[5] She entered as favourite for the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships, but performed poorly, ending in tenth, and commented that she was psychologically affected by being one of the smaller athletes there. Moving to the outdoor season, she threw a personal record to win the hammer at the Drake Relays.[6] Her mark of ranked her in the world's top 25 athletes for the year. Nerves again affected her at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Championships, as she failed to reach the final despite being the country's third best thrower that year, behind Jessica Cosby and Amber Campbell.[7]

Professional

After graduation, Berry continued competing with a focus on weight throw in the indoor season and hammer throw in the outdoor season. At the 2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships she ranked sixth. In the 2012 season she came third in the weight throw at the 2012 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. A new hammer best of came in April and she entered the 2012 United States Olympic Trials as the number two ranked American woman after Jessica Cosby.[3] [8] She did not live up to her previous performance, however, and ended in seventh with a mark of . Despite the failure, she was approached by New York Athletic Club, who encouraged her to join them and remain in the sport.[9]

Berry secured her first national title at the 2013 USA Indoors, launching the weight throw to beat out a field including Amber Campbell and Jeneva McCall.[10] She achieved a best of for the hammer that year, but again did not perform well at the 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, placing ninth.[3] She defended her weight throw national title in 2014.[11] The 2014 season marked her first foray into the international professional circuit and she ranked eighth on the 2014 IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge.[12] She was seventh at the 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, but was still selected for the Pan American Sports Festival. There, she came away with a gold medal in a season's best of and beat three-time world champion Yipsi Moreno of Cuba, whose career was an inspiration for Berry.[9] She enjoyed her highest world ranking that season, placing 17th overall.[13]

Berry skipped the 2015 indoor season and again competed on the circuit, placing tenth in the 2015 IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge final standings (second only to Amanda Bingson among Americans).[14] Berry cleared seventy metres for the first time nationally at the 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, but strong performances by Campbell, DeAnna Price and Bingson left her in fifth place overall.[15]

At the start of 2016, Berry was dominant in the weight throw, winning four straight meetings with throws over 24 meters, including a third career win at the 2016 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, and ranking number one globally for the season. Her hammer throw was also much improved with consistent throws beyond seventy meters.[3] Although a throw of at the Tucson Elite Classic was initially recorded as a national record, that distance along with all of Berry's performances from March to June 2016 were annulled due to violation of anti-doping procedures.[16] [17]

Berry placed second in hammer throw behind Team USA teammates Amber Campbell, ahead of DeAnna Price at 2016 Olympic Trials and represented the United States at 2016 Summer Olympics. She placed 14th.

At the 2020 Olympic Trials, Berry placed third in the hammer throw behind DeAnna Price and Brooke Anderson and represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she qualified for the final and finished 11th.

Doping violations

Berry has received two doping violation suspensions issued by USADA during her career. In 2016 she received a three-month suspension for using a prohibited medication.[18] In August 2023, Berry was given a 16-month suspension by USADA after testing positive for a banned substance.[19]

Support for U.S. national anthem kneeling protests

See main article: U.S. national anthem kneeling protests. During the award ceremony in the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, Berry was awarded the gold medal for the hammer throw. She raised her fist at the end of the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" in protest against “injustice” in America "and a president who's making it worse."[20] Berry's protests led the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to issue new guidelines in order to allow peaceful expressions of protest "in support of racial and social justice for all human beings."[21] Berry has stated: "I'm here to represent those who died [due] to this systemic racism."[22] [23] [24]

The International Olympic Committee reprimanded Berry and placed her on probation for 12 months, prohibiting her from any form of protest for a year. Her act cost her sponsorships, and she estimated that she lost $50,000.[25]

In June 2021, during the U.S. Olympic track and field trials for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Berry turned away from the U.S. flag during the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner".[26] She said of the national anthem's timing that "I feel like it was a set-up". According to a spokesperson for USA Track and Field who stated, "The national anthem is played every day according to a previously published schedule", the anthem was scheduled to be played at 5:20 p.m., though on this occasion the music started at 5:25 p.m.[27] Berry claims an official told her the anthem would play prior to her arrival on the podium.[28] Berry has accused critics of her protest of favoring "patriotism over basic morality."[29]

Personal records

Outdoor
Indoor

International competitions

2010NACAC U23 ChampionshipsMiramar, United States3rdHammer throw62.55 m
2014Pan American Sports FestivalMexico City, Mexicobgcolor=gold1stHammer throw72.04 m
2016Olympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil14th (q)Hammer throw69.90 m
2017World ChampionshipsLondon, United Kingdom14th (q)Hammer throw69.12 m
2019Pan American GamesLima, Perubgcolor=gold1stHammer throw74.62 m
World ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar10th (q)Hammer throw71.72 m1
2021Olympic GamesTokyo, Japan11thHammer throw71.35 m
1No mark in the final

National titles

2013, 2014, 2016

2017

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/tafn-lists?list_id=13&sex_id=W&yyear=2008 World Indoor All-Time List - Women
  2. http://www.siusalukis.com/sports/c-track/mtt/berry_gwen00.html Gwen Berry
  3. http://www.tilastopaja.org/db/atf.php?Sex=2&ID=62213 Gwen Berry
  4. http://www.siusalukis.com/sports/c-track/spec-rel/071110aaa.html Berry, McCall earn top-three finishes at NACAC Under 23 Track & Field Championships
  5. Rorick, Jim (2011). 2011 World Indoor List - Women. Track & Field News. Retrieved on May 29, 2016.
  6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DLsKOAoduI Southern Illinois' Gwen Berry after winning the womens hammer at the 2011 Drake Relays
  7. Rorick, Jim (2012). 2011 World Absolute List - Women . Track & Field News. Retrieved on May 29, 2016.
  8. Rorick, Jim (2013). 2012 World Absolute List - Women . Track & Field News. Retrieved on May 29, 2016.
  9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDDYCImljeA Gwen Berry: Road to Success by E. Brown
  10. http://www.siusalukis.com/sports/c-track/spec-rel/030913aab.html Former Saluki Gwen Berry wins USA Indoor Championship weight throw title
  11. http://www.usatf.org/statistics/USA-Champions/USAIndoorTF/women/WT.aspx USA Indoor Track & Field Champions Women's 20-lb. Weight Throw
  12. http://www.iaaf.org/Competitions/iaaf-hammer-throw-challenge/standings/2014/women 2014 IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge Final Standings Women
  13. Rorick, Jim (2015). 2014 World Absolute List - Women . Track & Field News. Retrieved on May 29, 2016.
  14. http://www.iaaf.org/Competitions/iaaf-hammer-throw-challenge/standings/2015/women 2015 IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge Final Standings Women
  15. http://www.usatf.org/Events---Calendar/2015/USATF-Outdoor-Championships/Results-by-Day/Results-FULL.aspx USATF Championships - 6/25/2015 to 6/28/2015 Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore. Results
  16. Battaglia, Joe (May 22, 2016). Gwen Berry Sets American Record in Hammer Throw. FloTrack. Retrieved on 2016-05-29.
  17. https://www.usada.org/sanction/gwen-berry-accepts-sanction/ Berry Accepts Sanction for Rule Violation
  18. News: Gwen Berry suspended, stripped of US hammer throw record . Eurosport . 14 June 2016 . 5 November 2023.
  19. News: Berry suspended for second time for anti-doping violation . Reuters . 2 August 2023 . Steve . Keating . 5 November 2023.
  20. News: Armour . Nancy . Opinion: US fencer, hammer thrower show principles with podium protests at Pan American Games . August 11, 2019 . USA Today . August 10, 2019.
  21. Web site: West . Jenna . USOPC Will Not Sanction Athletes for Peaceful Social Justice Protests at Olympics . Sports Illustrated . June 28, 2021 . December 10, 2020.
  22. Web site: Olympic hammer thrower Gwen Berry responds to backlash after she turns away from U.S. flag during national anthem. 2021-06-30. CBS News. en-US.
  23. News: Gwen Berry turns away from flag at U.S. track and field trials: 'I feel like it was a setup'. en-US. Washington Post. 2021-06-30. 0190-8286.
  24. Web site: 2021-06-27. Hammer thrower Berry turns away from U.S. flag during anthem. 2021-06-30. Reuters.
  25. News: Devin. Heroux. Olympian Gwen Berry knows the athlete's voice isn't always welcomed. June 1, 2020. CBC.ca. September 7, 2020.
  26. Web site: Pells. Eddie. 2021-06-27. Hammer thrower Gwen Berry turns away from U.S. flag during anthem. 2021-06-29. CBC.
  27. Web site: 2021-06-27. Berry turns from flag, felt anthem timing 'a setup'. 2021-07-01. ESPN. en.
  28. Web site: Lampen. Claire. 2021-06-30. Silence Isn't Neutral. 2021-07-01. The Cut. en-us.
  29. Web site: Brito. Christopher. 2021-06-28. Olympic hammer thrower Gwen Berry responds to backlash after she turns away from U.S. flag during national anthem. 2021-06-29. CBS News. en-US.