Failed broadcaster and lonely cat lady Keith Olbermann humiliated himself this week after telling former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines that she “sucked at swimming.”
Gaines, a two-time All-SEC first-teamer, had posted to X in support of Nebraska’s new “Women’s Bill of Rights,” which defines men and women as possessing “immutable biological differences.” That acknowledgment of basic biology triggered a temper tantrum from Olbermann, who responded to Gaines by attacking her swimming ability.
On Wednesday night, he posted,
“Can you just address the reality and move past it? You sucked at swimming. That’s why you lost.”
In a follow-up post, he continued,
“Second team all-conference. Happily for nasty, stupid, unsuccessful transphobe she has no reputation to ruin.”
Olbermann was widely panned for his comments on social media, and Gaines herself shot back just hours later.
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Ah, makes sense now why you got fired from ESPN. https://t.co/Js2q0NMSxu
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) August 31, 2023
“Ah, makes sense now why you got fired from ESPN,” she posted in response.
Gaines was a second-team swimmer in 2019 and 2020 and later earned first-team honors at the University of Kentucky. Not content with her initial reply, she decided to record a video and give Olbermann a tour of her swimming achievements, including multiple SEC titles and a second-place finish nationally.
After accidentally breaking one of the awards in the video, Gaines said,
“Keith, I would be really sad if I broke this trying to prove a point to an old man who can’t even seem to keep a job, but I’ve got more of these, so I’m not. Thanks Keith!”
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🥱 https://t.co/rTyZMNcc34 pic.twitter.com/vGPlXrEJoP
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) August 31, 2023
Other commenters on the site also piled on, giving Olbermann a thrashing over his comments.
“This is profoundly dumb even for you, Keith,” wrote Clay Travis of ‘OutKick.’
“Riley Gaines was one of the best women’s collegiate swimmers in the country. She was forced to swim against a man pretending to be a woman. Do you really think men’s and women’s sports shouldn’t be separated?”
“You’re such a freaking creep,” said LibsOfTikTok founder Chaya Raichik. “And why is an old unemployed man harassing an accomplished female swimmer on the internet?”
“She tied a 6’4″ man! TF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??” one commenter added.
“You’re a [clown]. The fact MSNBC had you as a host ever shows how unserious that place is,” said another.
A community note was added underneath Olbermann’s initial post, clarifying Gaines’s successful swimming career.
You truly are a stupid man@KeithOlbermann https://t.co/xeMdycbe0h
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) August 31, 2023
Fellow swimmer Paula Scanlan also came to Gaines’ defense. She replied to Olbermann,
“Your political bias blinds you and dismissive views like yours embolden men to change in front of us. Why don’t you address the reality that women’s spaces are being invaded and many women are harmed by this narrative.”
Scanlan was a former teammate of Lia Thomas, the biologically male transgender swimmer who narrowly beat Gaines in the 2022 NCAA Championships. On Wednesday, she published an op-ed in The Telegraph describing her experience.
“We must never force women to relive the trauma of their sexual assault by undressing in front of transgender women,” she wrote. “As was the case for me and Lia Thomas.”
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