U.S. athlete turns back to flag as national anthem played at Olympic trials

The American national anthem has played once per night during the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, but on Saturday the music started playing while athlete Gwen Berry was on the podium after getting bronze in the hammer throw — and she was not pleased.

"While the music played, Berry placed her left hand on her hip and shuffled her feet," the Associated Press reported. "She took a quarter turn, so she was facing the stands, not the flag. Toward the end, she plucked up her black T-shirt with the words 'Activist Athlete' emblazoned on the front, and draped it over her head," according to the outlet.

“I feel like it was a set-up, and they did it on purpose," Berry said regarding the timing. "I was pissed, to be honest."

The AP explained that while the anthem does not play during trials medal ceremonies as it does during the Olympic Games, the hammer throwing athletes got their medals prior to the beginning the evening session which had been starting throughout the week with a video version of the anthem played on the scoreboard. 

USA Track and Field spokesperson Susan Hazzard said "the national anthem was scheduled to play at 5:20 p.m. today. We didn’t wait until the athletes were on the podium for the hammer throw awards. The national anthem is played every day according to a previously published schedule," according to the AP. The outlet noted that the anthem began at 5:25 on Saturday.

"They said they were going to play it before we walked out, then they played it when we were out there," Berry said, according to the AP. "But I don’t really want to talk about the anthem because that’s not important. The anthem doesn’t speak for me. It never has."