NBC Ignored Simone Manuel’s Historic Medal Ceremony, Fans Clapped Back

By Kenrya Rankin Aug 12, 2016

There has been lots of criticism of NBC’s coverage of the Olympics, from the sexist language some commentators use to talk about female athletes to their incessant chatter about athlete’s personal lives rather than information about the actual sports on the screen.

After Simone Manuel became the first African-American woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal in swimming last night, there was another reason to criticize the network: Rather than air her historic medal ceremony live, the network opted to show taped footage of the Russian Olympic team.

Deadspin noticed and filled the gap for viewers with video from the BBC’s live coverage:

 

Brilliantly, the video also includes a picture-in-picture of what NBC decided to show instead of Manuel’s ceremony. The network eventually aired the ceremony an hour later, around midnight, but the damage was already done and “Since NBC Didn’t Air It” was already trending:

 

 

 

 

 

But if her post-race tweet is any indication, Manuel isn’t letting it get her down: