The 25-year-old American described the intersection of her wrists as "the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet".
Saunders' protest came after Gwen Berry, possibly the best known "activist athlete", on Sunday promised to continue to "represent the oppressed".
Berry, 31, held a high-profile protest during the Olympic trials on June 26 - turning to face the stands, placing her hands on her hips and then holding up a t-shirt bearing the words "athlete activist".
Berry's hand gestures were seen as rude by many, with conservative commentators calling for her to be removed from the Olympic squad as a result.
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Saunders, who is openly gay, has talked previously about considering suicide, and said she has seen poverty and depression consume her black community and others like it.
A two-time Olympian, who played in Rio, she said that she questioned whether the Games - which make a point of honoring diversity but often struggle to live up to that mission, would be greeting someone like her.
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This year's games have been overshadowed by athletes such as Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka speaking fully out about their problems, and Saunders said she aspired to as well.
Asked by the Associated Press what her plan was, she replied: "To be me. Do not apologize."
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She added: "To show younger people that no matter how many boxes they try to fit you in, you can be you and you can accept it.
"People tried to tell me not to do tattoos and piercings and all that.
"But look at me now, and I'm poppin'".
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The athlete keeps an active Instagram account, posting photos of her in training and reveling in the nickname "The Hulk". She said it is a citation to strength on the outside and vulnerability on the inside.
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Saunders admitted to her 47,000 followers that, even though she was professionally flying, she considered suicide in January 2018.
She wrote that she was on her way to "carrying (out) an attempt to end my life."
Saunders told AP: "If not for sending a text to an old therapist I would not be here (right now).
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"All these things weighing on me for 22 years, I was finally able to process it.
"I was finally able to separate Raven from 'The Hulk.'"
Saunders is one of around 180 out LGBTQ athletes engaging in the Tokyo Olympics, according to the website Outsports, which determines that's more than triple the number who competed in Brazil five years ago.