Non-binary Olympic athlete continuously misgendered in sporting commentary

26th July 2021

Photo: Team USA

Alana Smith has been frequently misgendered by BBC presenters despite including “they/them” pronouns on their skateboard.

American pro-skater Alana Smith has been misgendered during their Olympic commentary according to claims of users online.

“Why do the announcers keep misgendering Alana Smith??? They literally have “they/them” on their skateboard,” a viewer of the Olympic Games tweeted.

The user added: “Olympic announcers keep misgendering Alana Smith…Alana literally has “they/them” on their skateboard.”

“This is journalistic malpractice. No one should have to be misgendered on an international stage like this. Sports doesn’t know what to do with non-binary athletes.

“Shoutout to Alana Smith, the first openly non-binary athlete to represent the U.S. in an Olympic Games,” Britni de la Cretaz tweeted weighing in on the Twitter discourse.

This is journalistic malpractice. No one should have to be misgendered on an international stage like this. Sports doesn’t know what to do with non-binary athletes.

Shoutout to Alana Smith, the first openly non-binary athlete to represent the U.S. in an Olympic Games. https://t.co/7ane16AcRf

— Britni de la Cretaz (@britnidlc) July 26, 2021

A fan tweeted BBC Sport reporter questioning why Alana has been constantly misgendered, despite having their pronouns etched into some grip tape on the board.

Harwood denied responsibility after clarifying it wasn’t him reporting but elaborated on the situation.

“I’m sure the boys would of course apologise to Alana. I hadn’t seen anything regarding gender and I’m 100% sure they hadn’t either. Hence the mistake,” Harwood replied.

The journalist also explained that information pertaining to each sports person often comes through press releases or is directly provided to the BBC team.

“If you don’t come across a skater that much then you rely on information provided to you by the event organiser,” Harwood shared. “Not saying it was missed out I’m sure it was there, but personally I didn’t see it, and the guys are back in Salford with limited resources.”

However, despite the clarification (which came several hours after Lana’s skating performance), online users were not pleased with the lack of correction or apology.

“Alana Smith even showed off their They/Them carved into their grip tape and showed it on cam (despite that commentator still misgendered them,” Glen tweeted.

“Alana Smith literally had their pronouns on their skateboard and the bbc commentators still misgendered them, is is that hard,” another user also posted.

The BBC have not issued a statement or comment on the misgendering of the sports. Smith has not issued a comment.

Professional skateboarder Alena Smith hails for Arizona. The 20-year-old made history aged 12 becoming the youngest medallist in X Games history after snagging a silver medal in Barcelona 2013 for the Women’s Park Contest.

The goofy-footed skater has a diverse style and has competed in park, street, vert, and big air contests. Smith will be part of the wave of skaters debuting the sport at the 2020 Olympics. Smith identifies as bisexual.