At the Olympics scandal broke out because of the adoptive parents of the American champion

Фото: Depositphotos

NBC television commentator El Troutwig brought the wrath of the American public upon himself by refusing to call the adoptive mother and father of gymnast Simona Biles the "parents".

On the eve of 19-year-old Biles with partners in the US team won the gold medal of the team championship of the Olympics-2016 in gymnastics. For the 10 multiple world champion, this award was the first at the Olympics.

“They may be her mother and father, but they are NOT her parents,” the sports commentator wrote on his page in Twitter in response to a subscriber’s demand to stop calling Ron and Nellie Biles the gymnast’s “grandparents.”

Simona and her younger sister were adopted by their maternal grandfather Ron Biles and his wife Nellie. The gymnast calls her adoptive parents mom and dad, sharing with them, among other things, tweets before the competition.

“I am happy to have such parents who support me and to whom I can turn both on good and difficult days, and they always treat me with love,” Simone previously said in an interview with the same NBC channel, the American broadcaster of the Olympics. games.

Well-known author of a blog about foster children and parents, writer Carrie Goldman is convinced that NBC needs to work better with its commentators.

“When Trautwig publicly denies the fact that Ron and Nellie are Simone's parents, it is a huge blow to all adoptive parents. This damages Simone's self-identity, writes Goldman in his column for ChicagoNow. “His [Trautwig's] tweet brings back the pain that adopted children feel every time they are told that their mom and dad are not their real parents.”

Carrie Goldman's daughter, she said, grew up in a nursing home, like Simone Biles, before she was adopted.

“All foster parents are parents. They are real. What makes them parents is love and dedication to their children. Don't listen to Al Trautwig. Better ask the sons and daughters who call you when they are excited or scared, joyful or sick. Adoption is about love and family, not 130 characters on Twitter.”

Under pressure from the public, NBC demanded that Troutwig remove the message posted on Sunday, and an apology from the commentator followed on Monday.

“I regret that I expressed myself incorrectly on air and also aggravated the situation with my mistake on Twitter, which I later corrected. To be absolutely clear, Ron and Nellie are Simone's parents,” Trautwig said in a statement released to NBC Sports.

Biles is one of the main favorites of women's all-around, the final of which will take place on Thursday, 11 August.

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