NZ Herald Focus Sport's Cheree Kinnear wraps day four, our first medal, and is joined by boxer David Nyika as he prepares for his first Olympics bout. Video / NZ Herald
Controversial broadcaster Piers Morgan has raised eyebrows with a bizarre tweet about the British men's swimming team uniform.
Morgan took a peculiar stance in his post of a photo of Olympic divers Tom Daley and Matty Lee, taken before their synchronised dive on day three of the Tokyo games.
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He remarked that it was "shocking and shameful that male divers have to wear such overtly sexualising skimpy briefs at the Olympics".
"I demand full body unitards to protect and respect their dignity," he wrote.
Tom Daley and Matty Lee pictured on day three of the Olympics, shortly before claiming gold for their performance. Photo / Getty Images
Tom Daley of Team Great Britain during aquatics training at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on July 22, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. Photo / Getty Images
Backlash to his tweet came in thick and fast, with hundreds fast to criticise the media personality.
"Plenty of swimmers have competed in full body suits in the past. At least they have a choice. Not like women who get sanctioned unless they play in skimpy bikini bottoms," one unimpressed Twitter user wrote.
Shocking & shameful that male divers have to wear such overtly sexualising skimpy briefs at the Olympics. I demand full body unitards to protect & respect their dignity. pic.twitter.com/Xa5ZlRy737
"You are part of the problem, not the solution. Why do you not support women in having the freedom to chose appropriate sports wear that they feel comfortable in? Why do you feel the need to make fun of that? How insecure are you to make this an issue instead of supporting it," a third wrote.
His rant came days after Norway's women's beach handball team was fined for wearing shorts instead of bikini bottoms at the European Championships.
The team were fined a total of €1500 ($2529) from their breach of International Handball Federation (IHF) rules, which have been largely labelled sexist.
The issue sparked international uproar, with musician Pink on Monday offering to pay the fine for the breach of rules, which she described "very sexist".
Morgan's statement about the British divers, who went on to win their event, was not the first time he expressed a rogue opinion about Olympic uniforms.
Tom Daley and Matty Lee of Great Britain during their gold medal performance in the Synchronised 10m Platform Diving. Photo / Getty Images
Morgan was slammed for his rant about the divers' togs. Photo / Getty Images
Tom Daley and Matty Lee couldn't contain their joy at the victory. Photo / Getty Images
Responding to a tweet a day earlier revealing the German woman's gymnastics team chose to wear full-body suits for their Tokyo qualifications, Morgan again made his stance known.
"What a load of nonsense. May as well wear sackcloths and be done with it," he wrote.
Unsurprisingly, a chorus of social media users pointed out that athletes were within their right to decide what was appropriate competition clothing.
"You don't get to tell women what they should/shouldn't wear," one wrote.
"Why does what they wear matter? If they compete at a high level wearing a potato sack it should be acceptable. Looks don't matter in a sporting competition, only talent and skill," another said.
Morgan is understood to be recovering from a serious case of Covid-19, which he is believed to have contracted at the Euro 2020 football finals at Wembley Stadium two weeks ago.
