A veteran sports commentator has been sacked from his Olympic commentary role after making sexist comments about Australia’s female swimmers after they won gold medals.
As the 4x100m freestyle relay team were leaving the pool deck in Paris, Bob Ballard said they were “finishing up” and added “you know how women are… just hanging around and putting on make-up”.
The clip quickly went viral and broadcaster Eurosport later said he had been dropped from the commentary team.
Ballard apologized if his comments offended viewers and said he “had no intention of offending or demeaning anyone” in a statement posted on X.
Mollie O’Callaghan, Emma McKeon, Meg Harris and Shayna Jack have beaten the United States and China to make it the fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal for Australia in this event.
They waved to the crowd and celebrated the achievement as Ballard made his comments.
His co-commentator and British swimming champion Lizzie Simmonds immediately called his comments “absurd”, causing Ballard to laugh.
In his statement to X, Ballard urged users not to “dump” Simmons. Some were quick to attack the former Olympic swimmer online.
On Sunday, Eurosport said Ballard – formerly a long-time BBC reporter and presenter – would not be returning to the airwaves.
“During a Eurosport news segment last night, commentator Bob Ballard made an inappropriate comment,” the broadcaster said in a statement.
“To that end, we have removed him from the commentator list immediately.”
Mr. Ballard has been a faithful global sports correspondent since the 1980s, covering numerous Olympic Games and World Championships.
He has commented on a variety of sports including water polo, ice hockey and wheelchair tennis, but is best known for his commentary on swimming and diving.
Swimming Australia has been contacted for comment.
