NBC announcer criticized for saying swimmer's husband 'responsible' for gold medal
On Saturday in Rio, Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu crushed the world record in the women's 400-meter individual medley by more than two seconds on her way to winning a gold medal.
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But, aside from the astounding athletic performance, a lot of the focus from people watching the United States was on NBC commentator Dan Hicks, who faced criticism for implying Hosszu's success was due to her husband/coach, Shane Tusup.
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Speaking to the Associated Press, Hicks defended his call, saying, "with live TV, there are often times you look back and wished you had said things differently ... It is impossible to tell Katinka's story accurately without giving appropriate credit to Shane, and that's what I was trying to do."
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Hicks implied he was also trying to highlight the pair's controversial relationship, which he described as "harsh," and said, "it's been a little disturbing to some of the other swimmers."
Just a few days ago, the New York Times profiled this unusual relationship, including complaints and observations from other swimmers. After a poor showing in a meet in April, the Times reported, "Hosszu avoided making eye contact with Tusup, who upbraided her while swimmers from other teams stared. Tusup continued his critique in the warm-down area, where two people said they overheard him suggesting to Hosszu that she stay in the water and drown."
For her part, Hosszu told the Times, “He’s pretty hard as a coach but at home he’s supersweet and loving and really funny. So we can laugh a lot.”
Jezebel took note of previous examples of Tusup's behavior, as well.
Still, despite his comments and some who think the criticism is political correctness, many viewers aren't letting Hicks off the hook.
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Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.
