Andy Murray is the toast of the tennis world again – and not just for winning gold at the Rio Olympics.
Murray becames the first player to defend an Olympic tennis title after downing Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro 7-5, 4-6, 6-2,7-5 in a thrilling final.
But the best was to come from the Scot, when veteran BBC journalist John Inverdale congratulated Murray on being “the first person ever to win two Olympic gold medals”.
Here’s Murray’s reply:
“Well, to defend the singles title. I think Venus and Serena won about four each.”
Venus and Serena won singles gold in 2000 and 2012. They then teamed up for three doubles gold in Sydney, Beijing and London.
Murray has been much more vocal in his support for women in sport since taking on Amelie Mauresmo as coach and seeing firsthand how poorly she has been treated by the media.
His correction for Inverdale quickly gained traction on social media.
As if we needed more reasons to worship @andy_murray: he just reminded John Inverdale that women are people, too. https://t.co/YqTWdGsLlE
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 15, 2016
Poor Inverdale was left to pick up the pieces, with even Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon chiming in.
Yet another reason to love Andy Murray… https://t.co/qWPaIIkNmx
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) August 15, 2016
The BBC called the gaffe “a simple error”.
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