The world ice skating association has separated from two commentators at the figure skating world championships in Montpellier after a verbal derailment with immediate effect.
As the association announced via the short message service Twitter, Simon Reed and his colleague had spoken disrespectfully about the former Canadian pair skater Meagan Duhamel.
The 36-year-old is said to have been referred to as a “bitch from Canada”. The statements were picked up by a switched-on microphone. The ISU was “shocked by the language of the two commentators,” the association said.
At the same time, the association apologized to the 2018 team Olympic champion “for the inappropriate and unacceptable behavior of the two commentators”. The ISU said nothing about the content of the statements. “The ISU strongly condemns statements of a discriminatory or biased nature,” it said simply. An internal investigation would be launched. The two commentators would never again be cast for ISU figure skating events.
Duhamel responded on Twitter without rancor. “I have received personal apologies from Simon Reed and the ISU President and I don’t think a public apology is necessary at this point. I appreciate and respect the apologies,” the two-time world champion wrote. The head of the world association is the Dutchman Jan Dijkema.