Gwen Berry knockout? George Foreman said he was “not ashamed of being an American”

Former Olympic and professional boxing champion George Foreman used Independence Day to share his love for the United States, better than a week-long report on Gwen Berry, who won Qualified for the United States Olympic team, but criticized the national anthem and other content.

Forman, the gold medalist from the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico Olympic Games For the professional heavyweight champion and eventual entrepreneur, he said on Twitter on Sunday that he loves the United States, and he is not ashamed of it.

“For about 54 years, people have been asking me not to say’I love America’ all the time. I do, and I am not ashamed. Don’t leave it; love it. Happy July 4th,” Foreman wrote.

Foreman won the heavyweight gold medal in 1968 as an amateur and became a professional the following year. In the Olympic team trials last month, Berry finished third in the women’s hammer competition. While standing on the podium to win third place, “Star Spangled Banner“Starting to play, Berry turned around and no longer faced the American flag.

When the winner DeAnna Price and second place Brooke Andersen stood on their pedestal, with their hands on their hearts and staring at the flag, Berry stomped behind them and ended up with a shirt that said “Aggressive Athlete” Pulled her head.

Last week’s attention was not about Price or Andersen, because Berry won the headlines.

The politicians expressed their feelings. On Sunday, Foreman did the same. This comes from a black athlete who participated in the same Olympics. Two black Americans stood on the medal podium, and everyone raised their fists in protest. Tommy Smith just won the gold medal in the 200m race, while fellow American John Carlos won the bronze medal. On the medal podium, American athletes did not wear shoes, but used black socks to depict the poverty of blacks.

Foreman spent a troubled childhood in the impoverished area of ​​Houston and began to learn boxing. He is proud of his experience in Mexico City.

In 1973, he defeated the previously undefeated Joe Frazier, and then lost to Muhammed Ali in the famous Zaire jungle battle in 1974, thus becoming the heavyweight champion of boxing. . Foreman retired in 1977. Although his comeback was not outstanding, he made a living by selling George Foreman grills.

Berry raised his fist in protest after winning the gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, and was suspended for one year. Even less than a year later, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) relaxed some protest rules during the racial equality reform in the summer of 2020.

Berry hopes to apologize for her behavior.

Then, last month, when Berry finished third in the Olympic trials, she said that she was caught off guard by playing the national anthem.

“I think it’s already set up,” Berry said Washington post“I think they did this deliberately, and honestly I was very angry. I was thinking about what I should do.

“In the end, I just stayed there and wobbly. I put the shirt on my head. It was really disrespectful. I know they did it on purpose, but it doesn’t matter. I understand what’s going on.”