Olympics commentator Bob Ballard has posted an apology after he was dismissed from his role for making a sexist comment during commentary.
Bob Ballard was part of the 2024 Olympics coverage team for broadcaster Eurosport, but on Saturday he made a remark on-air about the women's 4x100m freestyle relay event that was widely shared online and led to his removal from further coverage.
"Well, the women just finishing up. You know what women are like, hanging around, doing their make-up," he said, a remark that his co-commentator Lizzie Simmonds called "outrageous" at the time.
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Following his removal from the Eurosport team covering Paris 2024, Ballard posted on social media: "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.
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"I shall miss the Eurosport team, dearly and wish them all the best for the rest of the Olympics. No further comment will be issued. Thank you."
In a further tweet, Ballard urged social media users not to "pile in" on Simmonds, stating: "She had nothing to do with this."
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A spokesperson for Eurosport said: "During a segment of Eurosport's coverage last night, commentator Bob Ballard made an inappropriate comment.
"To that end, he has been removed from our commentary roster with immediate effect."
The women's 4x100m freestyle relay was won by the Australian team, who have dominated in this discipline over the years. The team consisted of Mollie O'Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Emma McKeon and Meg Harris.
Select Olympics coverage can be watched across BBC One, BBC Two, and iPlayer, as well as Eurosport 1 and 2. Full coverage is available on Discovery+, which has an Olympics package on offer priced at £3.99 per month until the end of 2024.
Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
