NBC Ignored Simone Manuel's Historic Medal Ceremony, Fans Clapped Back
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:
Here's Simone Manuel's medal ceremony, since NBC didn't air it: https://t.co/WwDdAGfU76 pic.twitter.com/fbGHQq7Q9o
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) August 12, 2016
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:
Here's @Simone_Manuel's Medal Ceremony, Since NBC Didn't Air It https://t.co/XGQa4l3fdQ #Rio2016
— Awesomely Luvvie (@Luvvie) August 12, 2016
Shoutout to the @BBCSport reporters for ack. the gravity of a Black woman winning in #swimming https://t.co/Fqjkqgx4Ks cc: @NBCOlympics
— Brittany M. Williams (@Ms_BMWilliams) August 12, 2016
Systematic Racism is strong is unrelenting in the US. https://t.co/mPcg40grDN
— ROSE Inc. (@Support_ROSE) August 12, 2016
That Stupid moment when NBC Misses History so we could watched a taped Russian do gymnastics https://t.co/kJAQYeu8pq
— Chris Moorhead (@ChrisMoorhead1) August 12, 2016
It took NBC an hour to air Simone Manel's monuemental ceremony. What the hell. https://t.co/CrDplT8LTO
— D. Changstein (@iamnotatwit) August 12, 2016
But if her post-race tweet is any indication, Manuel isn’t letting it get her down:
It is an honor to represent the USA! God is working in me! I am so blessed and grateful. Thank you all so much for your support.
— Simone Manuel (@simone_manuel) August 12, 2016