A veteran Olympic commentator has been axed from the Games after making a sexist comment directed toward four gold medal-winning Australian swimmers.
Bob Ballard, who had been doing commentary at the Paris 2024 Olympics for Eurosport, made the troubling remark following the Australian women’s team winning the 4x100m freestyle relay.
As the women waved to the crowd to celebrate, Ballard decided to poke some fun at it.
“The women are just finishing off,” Ballard started. “You know how women are like, hanging around, you know, doing their makeup.”
A clip of Ballard making the comment was posted to TikTok and received over 490,000 views and over 1,000 comments.
@thelifeoflyds can someone PLEASE identify this commentator bc WHAT #swimming #olympics #paris2024 ♬ original sound – lydia
Eurosport announced in a statement earlier today that Ballard had been removed from their lineup.
“During a segment of Eurosport’s coverage last night, commentator Bob Ballard made an inappropriate comment,” the statement read, per The Independent. “To that end, he has been removed from our commentary roster with immediate effect.”
Ballard’s broadcast partner, former British Olympic swimmer Lizzie Simmonds, can be heard calling the comment “outrageous” directly after, remarking that “some of the men are doing that as well.”
Ballard posted an apology on social media, where he addressed those who took offence to what he said.
“It was never my intention to upset or belittle anyone and, if I did, I apologize. I am a massive advocate of women’s sport,” Ballard wrote. “I shall miss the Eurosport team dearly and wish them all the best for the rest of the Olympics.”
Right here it is the statement pt 1:
The comments I made during the Australian freestyle relay victory ceremony on Saturday have caused some offence. It was never my intention to upset or belittle anyone and, if I did, I apologise. I am a massive advocate of women’s sport.
I
— Bob Ballard (@bobballardsport) July 29, 2024
In a later post, Ballard urged people to not pile onto Simmonds, saying: “She has nothing to do with this.”
Ballard is a longtime sports broadcaster and used to work for the BBC where he served as their swimming commentator as well as doing both basketball and ice hockey.