Lizzie Simmonds, who was alongside Ballard on commentary duty, had described the comment as “outrageous”. Ballard has been contacted by Telegraph Sport for comment.
Professor Pragya Agarwal, a behavioural and data scientist, was among those to express immediate dismay, posting: “When will these people ever learn? Why aren’t they being given some training?”
After the clip was shared widely, Eurosport moved quickly to remove Ballard from all remaining events at the Olympics. “During a segment of Eurosport’s coverage last night, commentator Bob Ballard made an inappropriate comment,” a statement from the broadcaster said. “To that end, he has been removed from our commentary roster with immediate effect.”
Ballard will be a familiar name to BBC 5Live and TalkSPORT listeners, having previously reported for both radio channels. He covered swimming events across the opening day in Paris for Discovery+ and announced on social media that he would be poolside once again on Sunday, before being stood down.
O’Callaghan, Jack, McKeon and Harris set an Olympic record of 3m 28.92s in the 4x100m relay. The American team of Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Torri Huske and Simone Manuel rallied to finish second in 3m 30.20s.
Paris organisers had promoted the event as “The Equal Games”, and are said to have urged the broadcasters to avoid footage which might be perceived as objectifying women athletes. The IOC had celebrated the fact that women now make up 50% of its participants.
Hear it as it happens with live commentary of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on GOLD SPORT & iHeartRadio, plus comprehensive coverage on Newstalk ZB.
