BBC axe Olympic legend from coverage ahead of Paris Games

The BBC has sparked controversy after deciding to axe Olympic legend Sir Steve Redgrave from their upcoming coverage for the Paris Games.

The British hero won gold medals at five consecutive Games from 1984 to 2000 and is the most successful male rower in Olympic history.

Redgrave, 62, is now set to miss the Olympics for the first time in 40 years after losing his role as a pundit to Chair of UK Sport Dame Katherine Grainger.

The BBC decided that it did not need three pundits and Redgrave has now been ditched, with Grainger and Sir Matthew Pinsent to cover the 2024 Games.

‘I wasn’t told that I’ve been discontinued, but it’s sort of evolved,’ Redgrave told the Daily Mail.

‘Matt is the presenter and Katherine Grainger is the equivalent to what I was doing.

‘The three of us worked together at the World Championships the year after Rio, but then they went, ‘Male-female, covered on Olympic medals, why have three?’.

‘Working for China [as a coach] at the last Games probably didn’t help matters.’

Redgrave walked off set in 2016 when the BBC didn’t show the whole of the Helen Glover-Heather Stanning women’s pair semi-final live at the Rio Games.

‘There is absolutely no issue between the BBC and Sir Steve Redgrave,’ the BBC said in a statement at the time.

Redgrave is still open to working as a pundit for the Games in Paris if he is approached by another broadcaster.

Quizzed how he would respond to a last-minute SOS, Redgrave said: ‘If someone said, ‘Would you help us through to LA [2028]?’, that would be a harder decision to make. But to, ‘Will you help us out for Paris?’, the answer would be yes, I’m sure.’

There has been plenty of reaction to the BBC’s decision to axe Redgrave on social media with one user, @perks_joanna, posting on X: ‘I hope he gets a last minute Hail Mary pass. It wouldn’t be a proper rowing event without the mighty Sir Steve.’