A BBC commentator has corrected her fellow presenter after he accidentally misidentified an athlete's gender live on air.
Great Britain long jumper Jazmine Sawyers, who is commentating for the BBC at these Olympics after suffering an injury that kept her out of the Games, was quick to correct her teammate Steve Buckley after Buckley mistakenly referred to the shot putter with the incorrect pronoun.
Sawyers and Buckley, a former Great Britain javelin thrower, were commentating on the shot put on Thursday morning local time at the Stade de France when Buckley made the mistake. Referring to American shot putter Raven Saunders, he said: “Raven Saunders' colourful personality [is] “She's back. It's good to see her back, kind of. Kind of see her, I mean,” he added, referring to the full-face mask Saunders wears with sunglasses.
Sawyers quickly interjected: “Well, we can’t see them very well. Actually, Raven Saunders is not bisexual and she wears the mask there, and we’re used to seeing them in interesting clothes. Should that be allowed? Why not?”
“Why not really?” Buckley replied.
The BBC had not responded by the time of publication of this report.
Buckley was not the first commentator to make a glaring on-air blunder during this year’s Olympics. Last month, sports commentator Bob Ballard was fired from Eurosport after making a sexist comment about Australia’s women’s relay team on air. When the team won the gold medals, Ballard said: “Well, the women are just finishing the race, and you know what women are like. They’re hanging around, putting on their make-up.”
“That's awful, Bob,” replied fellow Olympian Lizzie Simmonds. “Do some guys do the same thing?” Ballard laughed in response.
After the 15-second video went viral on social media, the commentator was dropped from Eurosport, a sports network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Ballard later apologised, saying: “It was never my intention to upset or belittle anyone.”
