A BBC commentator corrected her co-host after he accidentally misgendered an athlete live on air.
Team GB long jumper Jazmin Sawyers, who is commentating for the BBC this Olympics after an injury prevented her from taking part in the games, was quick to rectify her colleague Steve Backley’s faux pas after Backley accidentally referred to a shot putter with an incorrect pronoun.
Sawyers and Backley, a former Team GB javelin thrower, were commentating the shot put together on Thursday morning local time in the Stade de France when Backley made the misstep. Referring to U.S. shot putter Raven Saunders, he said: “The colorful character of Raven Saunders [is] back. Good to see her back, sort of. Sort of see her, I mean,” he added, referring to the full face-mask Saunders wears with sunglasses.
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Sawyers swiftly jumped in: “Well we can’t see them very well. Raven Saunders is actually non-binary and wearing the mask there, we’re quite used to seeing them with interesting attire. Should that be allowed? Why not.”
“Why not indeed,” Backley replied.
The BBC did not respond before press time.
Backley isn’t the first commentator to make an on-air blunder during this year’s Olympic Games. Last month Eurosports commentator Bob Ballard was dropped after making a sexist remark about the Australian women’s relay team on air. As the team were awarded their gold medals, Ballard said: “Well the women just finishing off, you know what women are like. Hanging around, you know, doing their makeup.”
His colleague, Olympian Lizzie Simmonds, replied: “Outrageous, Bob. Some of the men are doing that as well?” Ballard laughed in response.
After the 15-second clip went viral on social media the commentator was dropped by the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned sports network Eurosport. Ballard later apologized, saying: “It was never my intention to upset or belittle anyone.”
