French Olympic champion Florent Manaudou in BBC transgender error

Ah the joys of the Internet.

The surprise winner of the 50 metres freestyle, Florent Manaudou, certainly appears to have something of a sexual orientation issue if you read the BBC's initial report on the race.

Florent Manaudou (screenshot TV5 Monde

 

Oh there's a photo of the strapping lad all right - all 1.99 metres of the 21-year-old giving what appears to be a cry of delight after winning in a time 21.34 seconds in a race that, if you blinked, seemed almost to be over before it had begun.

But then read a little further into the piece and that's when you discover that for the BBC, Manaudou - Florent that is - described as "the sister of former Olympic 400m freestyle champion Laure."

(screenshot from BBC site)

OK someone made a silly mistake and probably a person who knows little or nothing about sport - which 12 hours later still hadn't been corrected (perhaps it has by now).

But it brings a smile to the face and it's humbling that even an esteemed broadcaster such as the Beeb can make such a glaring blunder in its effort to be first and not necessarily the most accurate with the news.