NBC deleted Olympic footage and issued an apology after commentators repeatedly used she/her pronouns for a biological female competing in women’s moguls who identifies as a transgender man.

When Biological Reality Meets Preferred Identity on Live Television

The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics showcased a collision between traditional sports commentary and evolving enforcement of gender ideology. NBC Sports found itself in damage-control mode after streaming an international broadcast feed in which commentators referred to Swedish mogul skier Elis Lundholm using female pronouns during the women’s qualifying rounds. Lundholm, a biological female who identifies as male but competes in the women’s category under International Ski and Snowboard Federation rules, was repeatedly referred to as “she” throughout the coverage. NBC’s response went beyond apology, erasing the replay footage from its Olympic programming.

The network’s statement attempted to distance itself from responsibility while simultaneously accepting blame. “NBC Sports takes this matter seriously,” the broadcaster declared. “We streamed an international feed with non-NBCUniversal commentators who misgendered Olympian Elis Lundholm. We apologize to Elis and our viewers, and we have removed the replay of that feed.” The deletion raises questions about censorship and accuracy in sports journalism. Commentators described what they observed on screen: a female athlete competing against other females, yet that factual observation became grounds for content removal.

The Regulatory Paradox Creating This Situation

Lundholm competes in women’s events not by preference but by requirement. FIS regulations mandate that biological females identifying as transgender men must compete in women’s categories unless they undergo medical transition, including testosterone supplementation or surgery. The policy aims to preserve competitive fairness in women’s sports, acknowledging that biological males possess inherent physical advantages. This creates an unusual circumstance in which an athlete who identifies as male must compete against women and then expects male pronouns while doing so. The complexity reveals the contradictions embedded in current transgender sports policies.

The Milano Cortina Games featured more than 41 openly LGBTQ athletes from 13 countries, marking a record of representation. Lundholm’s participation as the first out trans man in Winter Olympics history drew significant attention. Yet his athletic performance told a different story from the historic narrative. Lundholm scored 12.05 out of 100 in his first qualifying run, placing 29th out of 30 competitors, and finished with the lowest overall average, far from qualifying for the finals. The results suggest no competitive advantage in competing in the women’s category as a biological female.

The Broader Battle Over Women’s Sports

IOC President Kirsty Coventry has advocated for protecting the female category, citing concerns about transgender women holding competitive advantages over biological females. November 2025 reports indicated the IOC was considering banning transgender women from women’s events, following the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s lead. Coventry emphasized safeguarding women’s competition, though she acknowledged studies disputing whether transgender women maintain elite-level advantages after transition. The Lundholm incident is the opposite scenario, in which a biological female faces criticism for being acknowledged as such in women’s competition.

NBC apologizes and deletes footage after misgendering trans athlete on Winter Olympics feed https://t.co/W9dBaAV8Rh

— Daily Mail Sport (@MailSport) February 11, 2026

The deletion of the footage represents an escalation in the broadcaster’s response to pronoun controversies. NBC didn’t merely apologize for the international feed commentary; it eliminated public access to the content. This censorship raises fundamental questions about the purpose of sports journalism. Should broadcasters prioritize factual accuracy regarding biological sex in athletic competition, or should they enforce preferred gender identities regardless of competitive category? The answer carries implications far beyond one qualifying round in moguls skiing.

What This Incident Reveals About Modern Sports Media

NBC’s aggressive response demonstrates how major broadcasters navigate the minefield of gender ideology versus biological reality. The network holds substantial power as a U.S. Olympic rights holder, yet it yielded to pressure over accurate biological description in favor of gender identity preferences. This incident follows years of escalating transgender participation debates, from swimmer Lia Thomas to ongoing policy revisions across sporting federations. The common thread remains tension between inclusion advocacy and competitive fairness for biological women, with media companies caught enforcing ideological conformity rather than reporting observable facts.

The Lundholm case exposes the logical inconsistencies in current transgender sports frameworks. A biological female must compete against women, per regulations designed to protect female athletics, yet faces no competitive advantage and actually underperforms significantly. Meanwhile, broadcasters face consequences for acknowledging the biological reality that necessitates that very competitive placement. American common sense suggests sports categories exist precisely because biological sex matters for fair competition. Pretending otherwise on broadcast, or memory-holing footage when reality slips through, doesn’t resolve the underlying contradictions. It simply reveals how far institutions will go to avoid confronting them.

Sources:

NBC deletes Winter Olympics footage after misgendering trans skier – PinkNews

NBC Apologizes After Referring To Female Olympic Skier As ‘She’ – OutKick