European pay TV company Eurosport says commentator Bob Ballard has been dropped from its Olympics roster with "immediate effect" after making sexist remarks about the Australian women's swim team. After they won the gold medal in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay on Saturday, Ballard said, "Well, the women just finishing off. You know what women are like, hanging around, doing their makeup." He laughed after his co-commentator, British former Olympian Lizzie Simmonds, called the remark "outrageous," the BBC reports.
In a statement, Eurosport said Ballard made "an inappropriate comment" during coverage. "To that end, he has been removed from our commentary roster with immediate effect," the company said. Ballard has commented on several Olympics during a sportscasting career that began in the mid-1980s, CNN reports. "It was never my intention to upset or belittle anyone and, if I did, I apologise," he said in a statement posted on X. "I am a massive advocate of women's sport." In a follow-up post, he urged people not to "pile in on" Simmonds. "She has nothing to do with this," he said. (More 2024 Paris Olympics stories.)
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