Veteran commentator Bob Ballard has had to pay a considerable price for making a supposedly sexist remark about Australian female swimmers following their gold medal accomplishment. As a result, Ballard has been banned from the commentary team for the remaining part of the event and the man himself is yet to publicly comment on it.
With the women's 4x100m freestyle relay team making their way out of the pool, Ballard said on air "finishing up", adding "you know what women are like... hanging around, doing their make-up". Ballard's fellow commentator stated that men do it too.
Eurosport sacks Bob Ballard with immediate effect:
With the video of the same going viral on social media, Eurosport acted on it and issued a statement that he had been removed from the panel moving forward.
.jpg)
"During a segment of Eurosport’s coverage last night, commentator Bob Ballard made an inappropriate comment. To that end, he has been removed from our commentary roster with immediate effect," Eurosport said in a statement.
It's worth noting that the veteran has been a seasoned expert in global sports coverage, commentating on a wide array of sports like water polo, ice hockey and wheelchair tennis. However, Ballard specialises in covering swimming and diving.
The Australian team of Emma McKeon, Shayna Jack, Mollie O’Callaghan, and Meg Harris registered a record time of 3:28.92 in the event. The American quartet of Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Torri Huske, and Simone Manuel stood second with a time of 3.30.20.
