NBC Apologizes After Commentators Repeatedly Misgendered Trans Winter Olympic Skier

The International Olympic Committee is still trying to figure out what their position on transgender inclusion looks like and how decisions are made regarding which events athletes compete in. In the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, Filipino boxer Hergie Bacyadan, a transgender man, had to compete in the women’s event because of their stage in their transition.

In the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics this year, per International Ski Federation regulations, Swedish moguls skier Elis Lundholm also has to compete in the women’s moguls event because he hasn't begun a masculinizing hormone replacement therapy regimen yet.

However the Swedish Olympian lives as a man full-time and uses he/him pronouns.

Lundholm is the first out transgender man to compete in a Winter Olympics. He is the second out trans male Olympian ever after Bacyadan in 2024.

What isn't a first is NBC Olympic commentators misgendering a trans athlete.

Five years earlier in the Tokyo 2021 Summer Olympics—delayed due to the pandemic—NBC repeatedly misgendered nonbinary skateboarder Alana Smith. At the time, they apologized for their error, but apparently didn't learn anything.

During a livestream of Lundholm's run on Tuesday, the unidentified NBC color commentator said:

"Getting off course here though…oh she just skids out of that gate. She’s going to hop up and go around to make sure she does not DNF as she continues down the line here."

Another member of the NBC team, professional skier Sam Smoothy, used "they" rather than "he" in reference to Lundholm.

However, the announcer at the moguls event itself did gender Lundholm correctly, using only "he" and "him."

Several news outlets had done coverage on Lundholm in advance of the Olympics, making the information regarding his gender identity and pronouns readily available to NBC's research department.

After being called out for making the same mistake again during their Olympic coverage, NBC issued an apology.

The network said:

"NBC Sports takes this matter seriously. Today we streamed an international feed with non-NBCUniversal commentators who misgendered Olympian Elis Lundholm."

"We apologize to Elis and our viewers, and we have removed the replay of that feed."

During the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, NBC issued a similar apology after commentators repeatedly misgendered nonbinary skater Smith.

Lundholm finished 25th in the qualifiers, so he will not advance to the moguls’ final round.

He told reporters:

"I’m happy to put down a run today. It wasn’t the best run."

"There are some things to fix, but I’m happy."

Lundholm added he wants "everyone to be able to compete fairly against each other."

"I haven’t really thought about it that much. I’m here at the same conditions as everyone else, so yeah, I’m just skiing."

"I guess I want everyone to be able to be themselves and just do what they want to do."

When Lundholm was asked by Sweden's Aftonbladet about the transphobic hate he might receive, he replied:

"Of course it’s something I thought about. You can hear the voices out there. But then, I do my thing and don’t give a damn."

That sounds like a healthy attitude to have about sports and life.