Seven anchor accidentally calls Chinese athletes ‘cheats’
Amanda Abate made an anti-China faux pas live on air. Photo: Channel Seven
A Channel Seven newsreader had an unfortunate slip of the tongue when she described China’s athletes as “cheats” during the network’s live Olympics coverage.
Amanda Abate was hosting a brief Olympic Games Update segment on Tuesday night when the awkward gaffe occurred, forcing her to quickly clarify her claim.
“The big names of swimming are lining up to support Aussie gold medallist Mack Horton with mounting backlash from China for calling one of its cheats, sorry, one of its stars, a drug cheat,” Abate said.
Chinese supporters launched a vitriolic campaign against Australian swimmer Horton after he described Chinese swimmer Sun Yang as a “drug cheat”.
Horton made the controversial comments before claiming gold in the men’s 400m freestyle event on Sunday (AEST), beating Yang by .16 of a second. Horton called his win one “for the good guys”.
Abate was visibly embarrassed by her slip-up before her co-host Ryan Phelan stepped in to salvage the situation.
“Slip of the tongue with Sun Yang?” Phelan asked Abate. “It happens.”
“I definitely didn’t mean that,” Abate responded, “but look … it’s a talking point.”
Watch the incident below:
