NBC announcer apologizes to teen athlete for error

Lewis Johnson made a simple, honest mistake during the Olympic Trials Thursday, but the NBC Sports reporter fully owned his error, apologizing to a teen athlete.

Johnson interviewed 18-year-old Vance Nilsson after his run in the 400-meter hurdles. Nilsson appeared to have earned a spot in the final.

“Vance, you’re 18, in high school, you just had another personal best,” Johnson said. “What does a performance like this mean and what does it mean to be in the final here at the Olympic Trials?” Johnson concluded the interview by saying, “We’ll see you in the final.”

One problem: There was still one heat remaining in the semifinals, and Nilsson got bumped out of the final.

Johnson posted an apology to the young athlete Saturday on X.

Hey @vance_nilsson … I realized after the last 400 hurdle semi that I made a big mistake saying, “we’ll see you in the final,” Johnson wrote. “Sending deepest apology for my error on live TV & much respect to see a high schooler compete like you did at these Trials. See you at USA’s 2025!”

As noted, Johnson made an easily understandable mistake; almost everyone who’s covered track and field, swimming, etc. where there are multiple heats has made this same type of error. But it was a nice move to publicly apologize.

[ AZCentral.com ]

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