Olympics broadcasting chief warns camera operators to avoid sexist framing of female athletes

An Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) executive warned camera operators at the Summer Games to avoid sexism when shooting the events in and around the Paris Olympics.

OBS chief executive Yiannis Exarchos said the organization updated its guidelines for operators, who are mostly men.

Chief Executive Officer for the Olympic Broadcasting Services at the IOC, Yiannis Exarchos, gestures as he speaks during the Olympic AI Agenda event at Lee Valley VeloPark in London on April 19, 2024. (BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)

"Unfortunately, in some events they (women) are still being filmed in a way that you can identify that stereotypes and sexism remains, even from the way in which some camera operators are framing differently men and women athletes," Exarchos said, via AFP.

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"Women athletes are not there because they are more attractive or sexy or whatever. They are there because they are elite athletes."

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Exarchos pinned the issue on an "unconscious bias" for men and TV heads who tend to perform more close-up shots of women than men.

Torchbearer Yiannis Exarchos runs with the torch during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Torch Relay at the Olympic Forest Park in Beijing on Feb. 4, 2022. (Li He/Xinhua via Getty Images)

In the early days of the Paris Olympics, Eurosport was forced to make a change to one of its broadcast teams after Bob Ballard made a comment about the Australian women’s swim team.

"Well, the women just finishing up. You know what women are like ... hanging around, doing their make-up," Ballard said over the weekend.

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Eurosport subsequently removed him from the coverage. Ballard apologized for his remark on Monday.

"The comments I made during the Australian freestyle relay victory ceremony on Saturday have caused some offense," Ballard wrote in a post. "It was never my intention to upset or belittle anyone and, if I did, I apologize. I am a massive advocate of women’s sport.

From left to right, Australians Mollie O'Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Emma Mckeon and Meg Harris celebrate on the podium after winning the women's 4x100-meter freestyle relay final at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Saturday, July 27, 2024 in Nanterre, France. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

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"I shall miss the Eurosport team, dearly and wish them all the best for the rest of the Olympics," he added. "No further comment will be issued. Thank you."

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