Olympic commentator rips snowboarding judges in vulgar rant
Now working his sixth Olympic Games, American snowboarding commentator Todd Richards has seen his fair share of world-class action.
A snowboarder himself at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Richards has garnered a reputation as one of the top analysts in the sport, given that he’s gotten the chance to call so many high-profile events.
But after calling the women’s slopestyle final on Wednesday, Richards took to Instagram to give a passionate rant against the event’s judging.
“That was the worst judging I’ve ever seen at an event, ever,” Richards said. “You guys blew it… you absolutely flipping blew it.”
Mari Fukada and Kokomo Murase of Japan won gold and bronze, while Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of New Zealand picked up second place. But Richards argued that other riders attempted harder tricks and didn’t land on the podium, while Fukada was rewarded for sticking with safer but relatively easy tricks for experienced snowboarders.
“I think if you’re talking about setting snowboarding back, great job,” he continued. “That was terrible… absolute sh** judging.”
The caption of his post wasn’t exactly much kinder.
“On what planet does two 720’s win a gold in 2026? What the actual flying f***? Moronic… it’s the Olympics, this event can change people’s lives. ”
Richards also had pointed comments about the men’s slopestyle scoring.
“The judging was all over the place… what the heck is going on?” he shared in another Instagram video. posted after the men’s final.
This isn’t the first time that Richards has made headlines during the Olympics. Earlier in the Milano Cortina Games, the veteran announcer was caught on a hot mic suggesting that the big air men’s snowboarding event was “boring”.
But with the snowboarding competitions now wrapped for these Olympics, it seems like his next viral moment will have to wait.
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