Sexism at the Olympics is a real issue. Female athletes left right and centre are smashing records, winning golds and capturing the world’s attention for their hard-work and determination. And yes, while sexism in sport has always been a thing – women have been participating in the Olympics since the 1900 after all – we’re more aware of it now than ever. You only have to tune into NBC’s primetime coverage of Rio 2016 to see that they not only give far more airtime to men competing, but they undercut female athletes successes throughout. It’s negativity like that that discourages women to participate in sport, but don't get too discouraged – the people of Twitter that are bringing back the positive vibes.
Katinka Hosszu
You remember Katinka’s incredible record-breaking 400-metre individual medley event, right? I mean, how could you forget? But obviously instead of focusing on Katinka’s win, you know, the race SHE won, NBC decided to focus the attention on her husband and coach, Shane Tusup. Saying he was ‘the man responsible for her win.’ Now, unless he physically went and ran the race for her (spoiler: he didn't) then she was the one responsible for her win. Luckily the good people of Twitter set the NBC reporter straight.
Corey Cordell-Unrein
Corey is doing really well at the Olympics so far. Like really really well. She won two bronze medals in one day for Women’s trap, how many medals did you win yesterday? I won none, in case you were wondering. Naturally instead of giving her the credit she deserved, the Chicago Tribune decided to tweet the below. Copy McPasty’s reply wins though. Copy McPasty, we salute you.
The US women’s gymnastics team
While they waiting to hear if they had won gold, the US women’s gymnastic team huddled. Like men do, like all athletes do as they wait to hear results that might determine if they win or lose. Huddling is a thing. An NBC commentator has clearly never watched any kind of sport as he stated: ‘they might as well be standing in the middle of a mall.’ Just no. Thanks to Natalie DiBlasio who pointed out that they were in fact, not at a mall, but at the Olympics.
Simone Manuel
Simone Manuel made history yesterday as the first African American woman to win a gold medal for an individual swimming event. So obviously Mercury News decided this was a great opportunity to use Simone’s incredible win to celebrate the success of the aforementioned Michael Phelps. It’s since been deleted but... fortunately the good people of Twitter were kind enough to screen grab it for us.
Here you go guys:
Yep.
Like this? You might also be interested in…
Here’s What Food The Athletes Are Eating In The Olympics Village At Rio 2016
**11 Athletes To Follow On Social Media To Get Your #RIO2016 Fix **
Follow Alyss on Instagram @alyssbowen
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.