The New York Times' sports section removed a poorly worded social media post about US Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Sunisa Lee on Thursday.
The post, apparently meant to make sense of Lee's unexpected victory in the women's artistic all-around event, instead read something like a backhanded compliment to Lee while curiously pandering to Simone Biles.
"Sunisa Lee, an American who spent a lifetime aspiring to finish second to Simone Biles in the all-around because that was the best anyone could do, exceeded those expectations on Thursday night, winning the Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Games," the tweet read.
The Gray Lady deleted the bad tweet after it came under scrutiny from users on the platform.
WCCO talk radio host Henry Lake was among those to express disapproval at the ham-handed content.
"They deleted it but here it is," Lake said, posting a screen cap. "Absolute garbage headline.
"That @NYTSports headline in my opinion showed intent to purposely disrespect Sunisa Lee," he added.
Lee's unlikely gold medal came soon after Biles, the US gymnastics legend and four-time gold medalist in Rio, withdrew from individual events in Tokyo, citing anxiety and a case of the "twisties," a vertigo-like phenomenon in which gymnasts lose their spatial awareness mid-air.
The response to Biles' tough finish was overwhelmingly positive, with many coming forth to commend her for her bravery in speaking up.
But it seems that in attempting to find an angle for their Lee coverage, the Times lapsed into what many users saw as a lazy analysis that sought to contextualize the event first through the prism of the Biles story.
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