The Olympic Video games group’s blooper within the presentation of the Argentine Macarena Ceballos within the semifinal of the 100 meters breaststroke

The Olympic Video games group’s blooper with the Argentine Macarena Ceballos

Macarena Ceballos made historical past at Paris 2024: she turned the primary Argentine swimmer to qualify for an Olympic semi-final after 20 years. She did so with a time of 1:06:89 in her collection within the ladies’s 100-meter breaststroke: the final time an Argentine consultant had reached this stage was in Athens 2004, when Georgina Bardach gained the bronze medal within the 400-meter medley.

It was there that the 29-year-old athlete from Córdoba skilled an uncommon second. In the midst of the presentation earlier than diving into the pool, the group made a mistake by displaying the Chinese language flag as a substitute of the Argentine one behind her. This error brought about outrage amongst each commentators and followers of the self-discipline.

“It would not be the flag of Argentina, the one behind, it is the one in every of China. Maca seems to be again and laughs. She will’t imagine it. The worst factor is that there are not any Chinese language within the collection, it is not that they missed the flag,” mentioned Gonzalo Bonadeo within the TyC Sports activities broadcast. Certainly, the swimmer was stunned to see the flag, however as soon as she entered Paris La Défense Enviornment, the area with capability for 17,000 spectators that hosts the self-discipline, she kindly greeted the general public and the digicam and focused on the occasion.

The blooper sparked a wave of complaints on social media, particularly given the annoyance brought on by the incidents suffered by the lads’s soccer group within the defeat in opposition to Morocco, with the invasion of the sector and the throwing of projectiles and stun grenades on the delegation. “SHAME! Macarena Ceballos was out to compete within the 100m breaststroke semi-finals and so they put the Chinese language flag on her. UNBELIEVABLE,” wrote @jusgarcia10 on X.

“It’s a disgrace how they’re treating the Argentines in these Olympics. Within the presentation when Macarena Ceballos entered, they put the Chinese language flag as a substitute of her personal,” added @gkobttom. “The crimson coloration you see behind Macarena Ceballos is the Chinese language flag; her face when she noticed it was lethal, hahaha. One thing occurred there that left the photographs from the earlier collection. We keep in mind that the one Chinese language particular person competing in Argentina is Diego Simonet,” joked @CaroMitriani.

Maca then completed fifteenth general within the semis, with a time of 1:07.31, and didn’t make it to the ultimate, which made her annoyed. “I’ve plenty of emotions, I’m blissful to be right here however very offended concerning the time, as a result of I didn’t practice for this. I did a really arduous coaching to point out one thing else, I do not know what occurred to me. We make plenty of sacrifices in order that issues don’t go as deliberate,” she lamented to the station’s microphones.

She can have one other probability on the Paris Video games: on Wednesday 31 July she is going to participate within the qualifying rounds of the 200-metre breaststroke.

Macarena, in full motion within the semi-final (EFE/ Lavandeira Jr)