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Privacy NoticeCountryfile presenter Matt Baker sparked a social media frenzy with his comments about Olympic gymnast Simone Biles. The TV presenter was covering the Olympic Games for the BBC when he noted that the 27-year-old athlete had narrowly missed out on a gold medal after losing her balance on the beam. At the time, he remarked: “Well, it just wasn’t to be! C’est la vie for Simone on beam.” Baker then paused the coverage to address the audience, relaying Simone’s concerns about the tense atmosphere in the arena: “She’s talking about the atmosphere, she’s talking about people shushing – we’ve talked about it and the atmosphere in here is like a cauldron when those gymnasts are on.”
Matt Baker’s comments sparked outrage amongst sports fans
(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
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He went on to attribute her mistake to the intense pressure from the crowd, saying it might have contributed to her errors. However, his comments didn’t land well with fans, who took to social media to vent their frustration. One angry viewer tweeted: “#BBCOlympics gymnastic commentators losing their s**t about Simone Biles having cameras thrust in her face after she fell off the beam is ridiculously ironic seeing as they have basically made the entire Olympics about her and screamed like groupies at every single move she’s made.” One fan pointed out the irony of the Olympics gymnastics commentators focusing solely on Simone Biles, despite their complaints about media attention on her, reports the Mirror. “There’s a certain irony in the #BBCOlympics gymnastics commentators complaining about the media attention on Simone Biles when she has been their sole topic of conversation throughout these #OlympicGames,” they wrote.
Matt angered Simone Biles fans with comments over her performance
(Image: DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Matt has recently opened up about his back injury. The former gymnast previously admitted: “No, I can’t now. I’ve injured my back. This is midlife – talking about your aches and pains!”. He went on to explain: “I did my back in. I was doing a panto. I was doing Goldilocks and the Three Bears and we were practising with the stunt chairs, and the chair wasn’t set correctly and bang! I went down on my coccyx and it turns out I slipped a disc in my back.” The presenter described he was recently in need of medical attention for a herniated disc. In a message of gratitude to health staff, he stated: ” For a long time now I’ve been dealing with a herniated disc- as an ex gymnast it’s hard not to be able to bend forward… so I decided to have a nerve block injection. “What a brilliant Surgeon and lovely NHS team it was that did my treatment. Thank you all! (also a big thanks to the nurse who used to watch me on Blue Peter – the buttered toast was amazing!). Big thanks also to my friends at Champneys for helping me with my rehab it’s a very special place. If you know of any good exercises or helpful tips I’d love to hear them.. @nhsengland @Champneysspas #backpainrelief #training.”Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnMatt Baker
