NBC apologizes after misgendering Olympic skier

Swedish freestyle skier Elis Lundholm made history as the first openly trans Winter Olympian

Last week, Swedish skier Elis Lundholm made history as the first openly trans athlete to compete in the Winter Olympics when he took to the slopes at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games. 

But NBC is now apologizing and has pulled all of its online coverage of Lundholm’s event after broadcasters repeatedly misgendered him.

Lundholm, a trans man who has not undergone medical transition, competed in the women’s moguls qualifying event last Wednesday, finishing 25th. After the event, NBC issued a formal apology and pulled the video from all of their feeds. 

NBC Sports takes this matter seriously,” NBC said. “Today we streamed an international feed with non-NBCUniversal commentators who misgendered Olympian Elis Lundholm. We apologize to Elis and our viewers, and we have removed the replay of that feed.”

Ahead of the Olympics, Lundholm told Swedish publication Aftonbladet that he’s always been treated well as a trans man in Swedish women’s skiing. And when asked about the potential for more online hate with more people around the world seeing him at the Olympics, he said “I do my thing and don’t give a damn.”

We break down what you need to know about Lundholm and the future of trans athletes at the Olympics.

Cody Corrall is Xtra's Social Video Producer. Their work has appeared in BuzzFeed News, TechCrunch, the Chicago Reader, CINE-FILE, Thrillist, Paste Magazine, and other places on the world wide web. He lives in Chicago and speaks English.

Senior editor Mel Woods is an English-speaking Vancouver-based writer, editor and audio producer and a former associate editor with HuffPost Canada. A proud prairie queer and ranch dressing expert, their work has also appeared in Vice, Slate, the Tyee, the CBC, the Globe and Mail and the Walrus.

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