Two Australian swimmers are in hot water with their country’s Olympic committee — for posing with guns for a photo they posted to Facebook and Twitter.
Nick D’Arcy and Kenrick Monk shared the photo above on their social media profiles, according to multiple reports. The photo has since been deleted from their accounts, but is still floating about the web.
D’Arcy and Monk were visiting an American gun store when they snapped the shot.
The Australian Olympic Committee was quick to condemn the photo, calling it “foolish and clearly inappropriate for members of the 2012 Australian Olympic Team.”
“We say again to our athletes, do not put anything up on social media that you would not share with your mother or your grandmother,” Nick Green, the Australian Olympic team’s head man, said.
“There is no such thing as privacy on social media. Anything that is put up will be in the public domain.”
The photo may have been particularly sensitive in Australia because of a 1996 massacre in which a lone gunman killed 35 people and wounded 21 more at a popular tourist destination.
“It was all just meant to be a bit of fun, the photos were just a bit of fun,” D’Arcy told the Associated Press. “If anyone’s been offended I deeply apologize. It was never the intent, it was never supposed to be offensive.”
The photo flap isn’t the first time D’Arcy and Monk have found themselves in trouble.
D’Arcy plead guilty in 2009 for assaulting a fellow swimmer in a Sydney bar. Monk nearly didn’t qualify for Australian’s 2012 Olympic team after fracturing his elbow in a skateboarding accident. He tried to cover up the accident by saying he was the victim of a hit-and-run while bicycling.
Social media is expected to pay a central role — for better and worse — at this summer’s games in London. Two-time gold medalist swimmer Rebecca Adlington said recently that she’ll take a Twitter timeout during the Olympics because of trolls who use the network to make vile comments about her looks.
Hurdler Lolo Jones, meanwhile, has become a Twitter megastar for her humor on the network and public pledge to abstain from sex until marriage.
The International Olympic Committee has introduced a number of initiatives — including an Olympic Athletes’ Hub — to promote social media engagement during the games, but some are skeptical about a stringent set of guidelines for social media use by athletes and fans.
-Sam Laird
Source: www.mashable.com