Russian state TV has attacked Tom Daley with homophobic insults and labelled transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard a ‘psychopath’, prompting an investigation by the International Olympic Committee.
Daley, who won a diving gold medal for Team GB, was targeted on Rossiya 1 which aired homophobic slurs, including one of the panellists describing LGBT people as an ‘abomination.’
MP Alexei Zhuravlyov also pointed at a screen showing Kiwi trans athlete Hubbard, referring to her participation as ‘smut and perversion.’
Over on Channel One, a presenter donned a wig to mock Hubbard.
The IOC, which banned Russia from competing in Tokyo over state-sponsored doping, said in a statement that ‘discrimination has absolutely no place at the Olympic Games.’
