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31st July 2024
03:57pm BST
Daniel Wiffen secured a momentous victory in the 800m freestyle final at the Olympic Games in Paris, becoming the first male athlete from Ireland to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming.
Veteran broadcaster Clare Balding, who is currently presenting her seventh Olympic Games from Paris, spoke about Wiffen's win during BBC's coverage of the swimming events at La Defense Arena. However, her comments sparked controversy on social media.
During the broadcast of the freestyle final, some viewers felt Balding implied Wiffen was representing Great Britain rather than Team Ireland.
Wiffen, born in Leeds and raised in Co Armagh, competes for Ireland despite holding both British and Irish nationality.
Following Wiffen's victory, Balding's remark "Northern Ireland are also celebrating there because that's a really rare thing - a gold medal in the swimming for Northern Ireland," received backlash.
One viewer tweeted, "Sorry @TeamIreland, @clarebalding has decided your medal doesn’t count. Terrible analysis from the @BBCSport as usual #bbcolympics."
Another commented, "Hang on Clare Balding! You can’t have Daniel Wiffin, he’s Irish and the medal is for Ireland! Big up Daniel Wiffin."
Wiffen's victory also led to criticism of BBC Sport after it posted about his win, stating, "Daniel Wiffen becomes the first athlete from Northern Ireland to win an Olympic gold medal since 1988."
A user on X replied, "He represents Ireland, not Northern Ireland. They don’t compete in the Olympics. Look at his T-shirt lads."
Post-victory, Wiffen celebrated by jumping into the arms of his family, including his twin brother Nathan.
As a talented swimmer, he would have had the chance to represent team Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but evidently chose to race for Ireland.
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