On Sunday, Hicks refused to walk back his comments.
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An NBC sportscaster is being criticized for giving credit to an Olympic gold medalist’s husband after her win for the 400-meter individual medley and setting a new world record Saturday. The swimmer has told him that she credits Tusup for improving her strength training, intensity and confidence, which was shattered when she lost the same event four years ago, he said. The tweet focused more on the career of her National Football League player husband Mitch Unrein than her own achievement.
Ms. Hosszu, 5X a world champion but without a medal from 3 previous Olympics, demolished the world record by 2.07 secs in the final of the women’s 400 meters individual medley.
Hosszu, 27, who calls herself the “Iron Lady”, won gold in the final and broke the controversial world record set by China’s Ye Shiwen in London by more than two seconds.
Comedian Cameron Esposito took to Twitter, writing: “Wait what did I just watch?” It is not true, as the NBC commentator put it, that he is responsible for her stunning performance.
– Maggie Hendricks (@maggiehendricks) August 7, 2016.@DanHicksNBC thinks women aren’t responsible for their own gold medals, credits husbands.
Tusup’s poolside behavior hasn’t done much to quiet his reputation as an overly aggressive hothead, either.
And then in April this year, after Hosszu had what the NY Times described as a “rare bad day at the office” and finished 5th in both the 200m individual medley and the 200m backstroke, Tusup allegedly threatened her with physical violence.
Tusup is an animated onlooker, as anyone watching Saturday’s broadcast will know. He went on to note that she has said he’s different away from the pool and added, “he has turned her into a tiger” in the water.
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“I’ve seen a lot of inappropriate and not-OK behaviour in Shane”, said Jessica Hardy, an Olympic medallist who used to train with Hosszu.
