UPDATED with Tirico’s apology : NBC’s main Olympic sportscaster Mike Tirico triggered instant backlash on social media after a comment about the flag French basketball player Mathias Lessort had wrapped around him during the Olympic awards ceremony after the Men’s Basketball final. Lessort hails from the French overseas territory of Martinique, and displayed the flag of his native land, which is somewhat similar to the Palestinian flag. “You saw with Lessort, one of the back centers, with the Palestine flag draped over his shoulders,” Tirico said during the broadcast.
“We are certainly conscious of any displays regarding the Middle East conflict from athletes involved in these games.” Shocked viewers immediately took to X to point out the error. “No way Mike Tirico said the Martinique flag (French Colony) was the Palestine flag😭,” one person tweeted.
“Mike Tirico that’s NOT the flag of Palestine. That’s the flag of Martinique, which is to France like Puerto Rico is to us,” added another. “Rare miss from Mike Tirico, but that is in fact not the Palestinian flag draped on Lessort’s shoulders.
It is the flag of Martinique,” a third person chimed in. Even more surprising than the mistake was the fact that Titico did not correct himself in the remaining 10-15 min of the telecast before he signed off. “Kind of shocked that nobody from the NBC truck got in Mike Tirico’s ear to tell him that is NOT the Palestine flag out there during the medal c.