The Paris rain put a dampener on Raven Saunders‘ Olympic medal bid on Friday evening.
Saunders, who was named among Outsports’ 2021 Heroes after winning a silver medal in Tokyo three years ago, was one of two Americans to reach the shot put final at the Stade de France.
However, they failed to make the cut after three rounds and exited the competition.
A wet throwing ring threw off much of the field for at least the first two rounds of the final. The early half of the event leading to the cut was in a downpour.
Saunders fouled their first throw and could only muster 16.92 meters in the second.
A drying ring allowed for a third throw at 17.79 meters, but that was only good enough for 11th place. The mark was well below the 18.62-meter effort that qualified Saunders for the finals Thursday.
Saunders again competed in a full facemask and sunglasses. Their long nails were green and gold.
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Up front, Germany’s Yemesi Ogunleye leapfrogged to gold on a strong last toss for 20.00 meters. That throw pipped New Zealand’s Maddison-Lee Wesche, who ended up with silver at 19.86 meters.
China’s Song Jiayuan ended up with the bronze medal with a throw of 19.32 meters. Team USA’s Jaida Ross ended up just outside the medals at 19.28 meters.
