Mike Tirico Issues Apology After Flag Confusion

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Mike Tirico has, as he usually does, done an outstanding job as the lead host of NBC's 2024 Summer Olympics coverage. But even the best make mistakes, and Tirico made a relatively big one on Saturday afternoon.

The trouble started in the ceremony after the United States men's basketball team completed their impressive 98-87 win over France to secure the gold medal. As Team France was being honored with their silver medals, the camera panned to Mathias Lessort, who had brought out a flag to the podium. The flag had some resemblance to the Palestinian flag, with some similar colors. And Tirico clearly assumed it was a Palestinian flag and a political statement from Lessort.

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"You saw with Lessort, one of the backup centers, the Palestine flag draped over his shoulders. We are certainly conscious of any displays regarding the Middle East conflict from athletes involved in these games," said Tirico.

Except, well, it wasn't the Palestinian flag at all, it was the flag of Martinique, which is an overseas department of France. 

Mike Tirico

INGLEWOOD, CA - NOVEMBER 20: NBC play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico looks on before the NFL regular season game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers on November 20, 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Mike Tirico Apologizes For Flag Mistake

Tirico quickly took to X to apologize for the mistake. "Just acknowledging, as soon as possible, my error for misidentifying the Martinique flag as the flag of Palestine during the medal ceremony at Men's Basketball today," Tirico posted. "They are similar but obviously distinctly different which is quite important for all involved. I apologize for the error and will correct on-air during our primetime show tonight."

It was an honest mistake, and it happens. All you can do afterwards is apologize and correct it, which is exactly what Tirico did. An unfortunate way to close out his coverage of the 2024 Olympics, but hardly something worth getting upset about.