• British commentator Simon Reed called skater Meagan Duhamel "the bitch from Canada" on air.
  • He and his co-commentator, who laughed at the remark, have now been fired. 
  • Olympic gold medalist Duhamel hit out at the pair on Twitter. 

The International Skating Union (ISU) has fired its world championship commentators after one made a derogatory comment about Canadian former skater Meagan Duhamel.

British commentator Simon Reed called Duhamel, a two-time world pairs champion and Olympic gold medalist, a "bitch from Canada" at the end of a broadcast on Wednesday at the World Figure Skating Championships in Montpellier, France.  

Seemingly believing his microphone was turned off, Reed and his co-commentator Nicky Slater then laughed at the remark.

You can hear the comment in video below, which was posted to Twitter beneath a tweet by Duhamel herself.

It is believed that Reed made the comment in relation to Duhamel taking issue with his commentary on the championships, particularly in relation to Russia's exclusion from the event because of the invasion of Ukraine.

Many of the world's top figure skaters are Russian, with the team dominating the Beijing Winter Olympics in February amid a doping scandal for teenager Kamila Valieva.

"Following the Pairs Short Program at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2022, an open mic picked up a disrespectful comment made by the two commentators working on the international signal," said the ISU in a tweeted statement Thursday.

"The ISU is shocked by the language used by the two commentators which does not reflect its views whatsoever. The ISU strongly condemns any statements of a discriminatory or prejudicial nature.

"There is no place for harassing and abusive language or remarks and behavior in sport and our society. The ISU took instant action with its service provider to suspend both commentators with immediate effect and neither will cover any future Figure Skating events for the ISU."

Duhamel, who was made aware of the comments on Twitter, is currently working as a pundit for CBC at the tournament, having retired in 2018.

She hit out at Reed and Slater on Twitter when she became aware of the comment.

"Skating world. If on Saturday when I'm working for CBC Sports, I make ANY inappropriate comments, please let me know. I want to be better and I promise not to call you a bitch," she said. 

In a later tweet, she then revealed she had received personal apologies from the pair. 

"Skating twitter, I hope we all enjoy some amazing skating today," she said. "I have received personal apologies from Simon Reed and the ISU president and I don't think a public apology is necessary at this point. I appreciate and respect their apologies."

The World Figure Skating Championships finish on Sunday.

Read the original article on Insider