Aussie apologises for nasty Bok slur
Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:45
Australian gold medal winner Stephanie Rice. (c) Getty
Triple Olympic gold medalist Stephanie Rice has apologised for a nasty slur against the Springboks, which she posted on the social network Twitter.
Rice was also slammed as a "complete idiot" by fellow Australian sports personalities, after the sporting pin-up girl posted an offensive, homophobic comment on her Twitter page.
Remarking after the Wallabies' 41-39 Tri-Nations win over the Springboks in Bloemfontein at the weekend, Rice tweeted; "Suck on that f**gots", adding: "Probs the best game I've ever seen!! Well done boys."
The comment, which Rice has since removed, stunned Football great Ian Roberts, who told the Daily Telegraph that her sponsors should relook their support of the glamour-girl swimmer.
Acknowledging the comment, Rice told the Telegraph that: "I made a comment on Twitter last [Saturday] night in the excitement of the moment.
"I did not mean to cause offence and I apologise. I have deleted it from the site."
However, Roberts, one of a handful of openly gay athletes and a devoted gay-rights advocate, said it was "inexcusable".
"It's never acceptable to belittle gay people.
Rice, 22, won three gold medals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and is the world record holder in the 400-metre individual medley.