Olympics 2024: Mistaken identity? Sky TV interviews wrong athlete

Israel's Tomer Frankel interviewed by Sky Sport. Photo / Sky Sport

That’s one false start warning for Olympics host broadcaster Sky Sport.

Sky Sport appeared to interview the wrong athlete during the swimming heats on day four of the Paris Olympics, with an Israeli swimmer mistaken for New Zealand’s Cameron Gray.

Gray and Israel’s Tomer Frankel both swam in the same 100m freestyle heat in Paris, with the New Zealander finishing sixth to miss out of a semifinal spot. Frankel was second in the heat, 0.75 seconds ahead of Gray in the lane beside but also failed to make the next round.

Leading the Sky Sport coverage in the Auckland studio, host Laura McGoldrick said: “Finishing in sixth spot there, let’s cross to Tim Evans who caught up with Cameron after the race.”

The graphic at the bottom of the screen read “Cameron Gray” as the athlete was asked “take us through what you thought of that race”.

“Ah, it was fun. I got a bit tired towards the end but it was a good experience”.

With 12 channels covering 32 sports you can forgive Sky for making the odd mistake at the Games and they quickly realised the error, talking to Gray moments later.

“You may be thinking: ‘I think that guy they just talked to post-race wasn’t Cameron Gray’. And you’d be right. That wasn’t Cameron Gray. We’re not sure who that was,” McGoldrick said before throwing to an interview with the real Gray.

The Cameron Gray interviewed by Sky Sport. Photo / Sky Sport

Hear it as it happens with live commentary of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on GOLD SPORT & iHeartRadio, plus comprehensive coverage on Newstalk ZB.