Tokyo Olympics: Instagram blocks gold medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah for sharing race win

Thompson-Herah, the fastest woman in the world, was blocked on Tuesday for sharing videos from her 100 and 200 metre races on her Instagram account.

Published : Aug 05, 2021 11:09 IST , TOKYO

Gold medallist Jamaica's Elaine Thompson-Herah celebrates during the medal ceremony for the women's 200m event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium.
Gold medallist Jamaica's Elaine Thompson-Herah celebrates during the medal ceremony for the women's 200m event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium.
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Gold medallist Jamaica's Elaine Thompson-Herah celebrates during the medal ceremony for the women's 200m event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium.

Jamaican sprint queen Elaine Thompson-Herah prompted a rare climbdown from social media giant Facebook after being banned for posting footage of her own victory at the Tokyo Olympics.

Thompson-Herah put up a video on the Facebook-owned platform Instagram showing her win in the 200m on Tuesday when she completed an unprecedented women's "double-double" in the 100m and 200m at the Rio and Tokyo Games.

Justifiably proud of her achievements, Thompson-Herah later revealed she had been temporarily suspended because of rights issues.

 

"I was blocked on Instagram for posting the races of the Olympics because I did not own the right to do so. So see y'all in 2 days," she tweeted.

The action prompted disbelief among the runner's followers on social media, with many questioning the logic of preventing an athlete from sharing her moment of glory.

However, the footage reappeared on Instagram a few hours later.

 

The International Olympic Committee guards its broadcasting rights, which generate billions of dollars for the organisation from global TV networks, particularly NBC in the United States.

The IOC's social media guidelines say athletes "are encouraged to share their experiences with their friends, family and supporters via social and digital media".

But it says they cannot put up "Olympic Games content containing audio/video of the field of play".

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