NBC Forced to Issue Statement After Misgendering Olympic Athlete

NBC Sports have issued a statement of apology after commentators misgendered trans athlete Elis Lundholm during coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Lundholm, who is a transgender man, competed in the women's moguls freestyle skiing event in Cortina on Tuesday.

He is eligible to compete in the event as he has yet to undergo any gender transition surgeries or hormonal treatments that could affect his testosterone levels.

During the first qualification stage, Lundholm finished in 29th place out of 30 athletes after making a mistake early on in his run.

However, the bottom 20 athletes from stage one enter qualifying stage two and receive a second opportunity to reach the final - meaning Lundholm's Olympic dream is not yet over.

During a live stream of Winter Olympics coverage on NBC/Peacock, the co-commentator incorrectly referred to Lundholm as 'she' on four occasions during his qualifying run.

It was an international feed featuring non-NBC-contracted commentators.

NBC have subsequently issued an apology for the comments that were broadcast on their TV station, telling Outsports: "NBC Sports takes this matter seriously.

"Today we streamed an international feed with non-NBCUniversal commentators who misgendered Olympian Elis Lundholm.

"We apologise to Elis and our viewers, and we have removed the replay of that feed."

Speaking to Swedish outlet Aftonbladet in January, Lundholm said he would take no notice of any media attention towards him in the build-up to the Olympics.

"I have always been treated well," he said.

"Of course it [the attention]'s something I thought about. You can hear the voices out there.

"But then I do my thing and don't give a damn."

Lundholm's coach, Robert Hansson, added: "I hope that no situations arise that we can't handle. And Elis is very confident in himself and what he has decided and what he stands for. So it will take a lot before he will be shaken by this."