OLYMPIC FAIL: Male Commentator Credits World Record Win To Swimmers Husband
As the Olympics kickstarted over the weekend in Rio, Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu crushed the world record in the women’s 400-meter individual medley by more than two seconds, before securing a gold medal for Hungary.
What a ledge, right?
Well, NBC commentator Dan Hicks, heavily implied during her swim, that Hosszu’s success was due to her husband/coach, Shane Tusup.
Hicks actually called Tusup “the man responsible” for the record-breaking performance.
Woman smashed WR, winning gold. Male @NBCOlympics announcer credits her husband/coach for HER SWIM and HER GOLD. #nbcfail #OlympicSexism
— Asha Singh (@its_an_asha) August 7, 2016
The husband and wife have a well-known turbulent relationship and the commentary received online criticism targeted at Hicks, for congratulating a man for the hard work of a woman, that just fucking broke her own world record.
Speaking to the Associated Press, Hicks said, “with live TV, there are often times you look back and wished you had said things differently … It is impossible to tell Katinka’s story accurately without giving appropriate credit to Shane, and that’s what I was trying to do.”
Even so, it’s not often that male athletes are spoken about in such reductive terms.
So this Hungarian swimmer has the race of her life, winning GOLD and the two (male) announcers give all of the CREDIT TO HER HUSBAND
— Little Hunting Creek (@kathilatte) August 7, 2016
Giving this woman's husband credit for her just breaking a world record and winning a gold medal seems…not right. #RioOlympics2016
— Kelley (@Budini) August 7, 2016
Hosszu smashes the world record in the 400 IM. Camera pans to her husband. Dan Hicks: "There's the man responsible!" Unbelievable. #Rio2016
— Nameless Number (@AnubisAndFooFoo) August 7, 2016