Olympic broadcaster Eurosport has removed one of its commentators, Bob Ballard, after he made an “outrageous” remark about Australia’s golden girls of the pool.
The comment was made after Australia’s female 4x100m freestyle relay team – which included Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Emma McKeon and Meg Harris – won gold on Saturday evening.
“Well, the women just finishing up. You know what women are like … hanging around, doing their makeup,” Ballard said in response.
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Ballard’s co-commentator, Lizzie Simmonds, described the remark, which went viral on social media, as “outrageous”.
“During a segment of Eurosport’s coverage last night, commentator Bob Ballard made an inappropriate comment,” the broadcaster said in a statement.
“To that end, he has been removed from our commentary roster with immediate effect.”
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Ballard is yet to comment publicly on his removal from the commentary team.
Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Emma McKeon and Meg Harris won the event with an Olympic record of 3:28.92.
The victory marked our fourth straight Olympic gold in the women’s 4x100m freestyle and made McKeon Australia’s most successful Olympian with six gold medals.
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