The Olympics are still ongoing, so there are still errors in the media. Below, the latest, including the record for Olympic tennis gold medals and a Simone Biles-Gabby Douglas mix-up.
What’s the Record for Tennis Players and Olympic Golds?
The BBC’s John Inverdale wrongly said Andy Murray was the first tennis player to earn two Olympic gold medals, the Independent reported. Inverdale said Aug 14 that Murray was “the first person ever to win two Olympic tennis gold medals.”
Murray called Inverdale out on his error, telling him “To defend the singles title. I think Venus and Serena have won about four each.” The BBC called his mistake a “simple error,” the Guardian noted.
The Independent noted this isn’t Inverdale’s first slip-up. “In 2013, Inverdale sent personal apology to tennis player Marion Bartoli after saying he wondered if her father ever told her ‘you are never going to be a looker.'”
The Guardian listed a few other examples of Inverdale’s failures, like when he said earlier this year that Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios “lumbers off like a character from the Jungle Book” and when he apologized last year for saying “rose-cunted spectacles.”
iMediaEthics has written to the BBC for comment.
Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas?
The Daily News in Philadelphia mixed up Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles. (Via NBC News)
The Philadelphia Daily News mixed up Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas, two U.S.Olympic-winning gymnasts, according to New York Magazine.
Daily News columnist Ronnie Polaneczky said she was “mortified” by the mistake even though she wasn’t in charge of choosing the photos, NBC Philadelphia reported. The photo accompanied her column titled, “She can vault over the vitriol” which was written to Douglas to support her in light of online criticism for her facial expressions and for not putting her hand over her heart during the national anthem at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Philadelphia Daily News editor Michael Days apologized on Twitter for the mix-up.