Olympics commentator taken off air after inappropriate sexist remark about female swimmers
An Olympics commentator has been taken off air by Eurosport after making an inappropriate comment about a group of female Australian swimmers.
Veteran commentator Bob Ballard, who was calling the action for Eurosport, made the remark shortly after Australia won the women's 4x100m freestyle relay race in Paris.
The race was won by Mollie O'Callaghan, Meg Harris, Shayna Jack and Emma McKeon - the latter of whom is Australia's most decorated Olympian of all time in terms of medals won.
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After the team made their way off the pool deck, Ballard said: "The women just finishing off... you know what women are like, hanging around, doing their makeup."
Co-commentator Lizzie Simmonds, who competed for Team GB at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, responded: "Outrageous Bob, some of the men are doing that as well."
Ballard replied: "Doing their makeup? Yeah, okay." Both commentators then laughed.
Eurosport later released a statement to confirm that Ballard, who has commentated on swimming since the 1980s as well as an array of other sports, had been removed from their coverage following the comment.
The statement read: "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."
Ballard is yet to publicly comment on his removal.
As of Monday morning, Australia are second in the swimming medal table at Paris 2024, sitting behind United States.
As well as their relay success, Ariarne Titmus won gold in the 400m freestyle on Saturday, finishing ahead of fierce rivals Summer McIntosh and Katie Ledecky in what was one of the most highly-anticipated races of the Games.
Sunday, meanwhile, saw home hero Leon Marchand take success in the 400m medley final, with the Frenchman setting an Olympic record and beating nearest competitor Tomoyuki Matsushita by nearly six seconds in what was a dominant display in the pool.
Ryan Smart