Rio Olympics 2016: Mahe Drysdale in middle of Brit presenters' spat

John Inverdale, right, stops Kiwi rower Mahe Drysdale after his historic gold medal win only for Sir Steve Redgrave to stop the interview. Photo / via BBC

New Zealand gold medallist Mahe Drysdale has inadvertently found himself mixed up in a spat between British commentators at the Rio Olympics.

In a well publicised falling out last week, Olympic champion Sir Steve Redgrave walked off set after a clash with BBC co-presenter John Inverdale live on air.

Redgrave rolled his eyes as Inverdale was talking about women's rowing before pulling a face at his colleague and walking off.

Tensions between the two have been brewing throughout coverage of the rowing during the Rio Olympics with Redgrave reportedly growing annoyed at being given little chance to speak by Inverdale.

The latest clash occurred when Inverdale stopped Kiwi rower Drysdale after his historic gold medal win to get comment only for Redgrave to interrupt him and stop the interview, saying New Zealand TV needed to interview the single sculls Olympic champion first.

As Drysdale started to answer, Redgrave snapped and told the veteran British sports presenter to let him go and talk to the New Zealand broadcasters first.

Redgrave said: "I can't allow that to happen. The Kiwis should get him first. There's no doubt that's fair."

Later, when Drysdale returned to talk to the duo, Inverdale quipped: "Mahe Drysdale, the extended version of that interview."

The initial run-in occurred on Thursday, when Redgrave walked off and did not return for the rest of the day, according to The Sun newspaper.

That spat kicked off after Inverdale compared Redgrave to a mute James Bond character Oddjob to which the ex-Olympian said: "We'll have to call you Jaws because I can never get a word in edgeways."

As part of the ongoing tension between the pair, Redgrave also shook his umbrella onto Inverdale, covering him with droplets of rain. A source told The Sun: "Sir Steve was so livid that he walked off because he wasn't able to speak."

And those watching on their televisions at home, could not help but notice the simmering atmosphere between the pair.

Sir Steve Redgrave is such a gent. Inverdale grabbed the NZ gold rower for i/v but Redgrave insisted he should go to NZ media first ❤️

— Mazzy K (@MazzyK) August 13, 2016

Andrew Brooks tweeted: "And it's Day 6 in the When Will Steve Redgrave Thump John Inverdale competition."

Anya Grace added: "If the rowing doesn't end with Steve Redgrave chucking Inverdale in the lake I'm gonna be disappointed."

Nice to see Sir Steve Redgrave schooling John Inverdale on post-race interview etiquette on live TV. But we know Inverdale lacks class.

— Mark Pinsent (@markpinsent) August 13, 2016

John Cadigan wrote: "Presumably Steve Redgrave is going to finish by belting John Inverdale into the lake with an oar."

- additional reporting The Telegraph