Australia_s Mollie O_Callaghan_ Shayna Jack _secon

Bob Ballard, longtime sports commentator for Eurosport, has been let go for making a sexist comment about the female Australian swimmers who had just won the gold medal in the 4x100m freestyle at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. After Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Emma McKeon, and Meg Harris had won the gold, Ballard—who has covered multiple Olympic Games and World Championships since the 1980s—stated, “Well, the women just finishing up. You know what women are like hanging around, doing their make-up.” Co-commentator Lizzie Simmonds called Ballard’s remark “outrageous” and laughed it off.

Ballard’s commentary gig with Eurosport abruptly ended today when the company announced that he was being let go. He has not yet released a public statement offering his side of the story, but it seems it’s another case of a sportscaster being punished for poorly chosen words. His removal, of course, comes on the heels of a highly charged Olympics in which the rights to broadcast the event were hotly contested.

Australia’s Emma McKeon, however, went right on ahead with making history at Tokyo 2020. On day two of the Games, she swam to her sixth Olympic gold medal and her second of this competition, won in the 100m butterfly.

Cody Simpson, the pop star who is currently dating Ballard, expressed genuine admiration for her accomplishments, saying, “She’ll be so humble about it. She’ll never say it herself, but it’s pretty special what she’s done. It’s unreal.” As for the Paris 2024 Olympics, they promise to be the most visually spectacular stage of a sporting event so far. Though they continue to be shrouded in weirdness, from the appearance of the “cap catcher” to quite the head-turning “blue scrotum,” one of the most outrageous and talked-about moments to happen thus far is certainly Ballard’s.

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