Raven Saunders gets 18-month ban for missed doping tests

CHARLESTON, SC— Lowcountry native Raven Saunders has been suspended for 18 months by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for missing three drug tests in the last year.

The Burke alum, who won the U.S. silver-medal in the shot putt at the Tokyo Olympics committed “whereabouts failures” within a 12-month period ending on Aug. 15. She will miss this year’s world championships, but would be eligible for the Paris Olympics next year.

The USADA said Saunders accepted the penalty.

This isn’t the first time Saunders has been the center of controversy in the sport.

When she accepted her silver medal in 2021, she formed an “X” with her wrists that she said stood for “the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet.”

Saunders is a four-time NCAA champion and won USA Track and Field’s Humanitarian Award in 2021.

Saunders finished fourth at U.S. nationals last year and did not qualify for worlds. Shortly after, she announced she was taking the rest of 2022 off. That came about a month before her final missed test. The other two were in January and May.

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