NBC Sportscaster Apologizes For Flag Mix-Up At Olympics Medal Ceremony
NBC sportscaster Mike Tirico apologized after he confused the Martinique flag for the flag of Palestine during an Olympics medal ceremony that followed the electric men’s basketball final on Saturday.
The apology comes after Mathias Lessort, a center on Team France, wrapped the flag of his native land, Martinique, a French island territory, around him after Team USA beat his squad for the gold medal.
“You saw with Lessort, one of the backup centers, the Palestine flag draped over his shoulders,” Tirico said during the broadcast as the French players received their silver medals.
“We are certainly conscious of any displays regarding the Middle East conflict from athletes involved in these games.”
Both the Martinique and Palestine flags use the same colors — black, red and green — although the latter also features the color white.
Lessort has played for a number of international basketball teams over his career, including a stint with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.
Following the mix-up, Tirico took to X, formerly called Twitter, to address the matter and apologize.
“Just acknowledging, as soon as possible, my error for misidentifying the Martinique flag as the flag of Palestine during the medal ceremony at Men’s Basketball today,” wrote the sportscaster, who also made a similar apology at the beginning of NBC’s prime-time coverage of the Paris Games.
“They are similar but obviously distinctly different which is quite important for all involved.”
Just acknowledging, as soon as possible, my error for misidentifying the Martinique flag as the flag of Palestine during the medal ceremony at Men’s Basketball today. They are similar but obviously distinctly different which is quite important for all involved.
I apologize…— MikeTirico (@miketirico) August 10, 2024